Ancestors
by Violetnightowl
Summary: "You're right.I never knew my parents" said Kanan Jarrus. Who were his parents?I should know; his mom was my Jedi Master. Yes, Caleb Dume is the son of a Jedi Knight named Cyla Dume. She fell in love with the man who took me in as if he were my brother. Caleb may not have known us, but I sure remember him when he was born. This is the story of a mechanic, a Jedi, and me: Jalo Hikra
1. Author's note

**Author's Note. PLEASE READ:**

 **For the first chapter, it will have my OCs involved, so if you haven't read my stories before, the very first chapter won't make sense.**

 **But, you can read the rest of story and it'll make sense if you did or didn't read my other stories. Only the very first and last chapter of this book will include my OCs that aren't originally introduced in this story.**

 **The rest of the chapters will be a story on its own.**

 **Reasons why the rating is T:**

 **-some kisses**

 **-moderate violence, not very graphic**

 **-I'm worried that I'll get reported if I put it at any lower of a rating and I'm just trying to be cautious.**

 **Disclaimer:**

 **I don't own Star Wars or Star Wars Rebels or any of that...**

 **yada yada...**

 **I only own my ideas...**

 **blah blah blah...**

 **we all know that I don't own that stuff. If I did, I'd be really rich...**

 **My storyline, OCs, and crap belong to me. Period. If ya wanna write a story that's a continuation of my OCs or something, JUST ASK. 99.99% of the time I'll say yes, as long as you give me credit for my stuff.**


	2. Chapter 1

**PLEASE READ!**

 **IF YOU HAVE NOT READ MY OTHER STORIES, THIS CHAPTER WILL NOT MAKE SENSE AS IT'S JUST A SMALL CONTINUATION OF MY STORIES. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ MY OTHER STORIES, JUST SKIP THIS CHAPTER. THE REST OF THE STORY WILL BE A STORY OF ITS OWN AND DOESN'T REQUIRE THE READER TO HAVE READ ANY OF MY PREVIOUS STORIES.**

 **Thanks!**

* * *

"Are you kidding me? Why is he coming along?" Onthant complained as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Dad, it's fine," Athena assured her father as she fiddled with a device on her wrist. Her short hair almost falling into her eyes as she bent her neck down to look at her wrist. "I thought you'd be fine with going Jalo anyways. He was your wife's Padawan. And Kanan said something about you two being brothers, anyway, and that's how Cyla met you when she took him as a Padawan."

Onthant rolled his eyes as he huffed. His eyes were caught by the sight of a person dressed in an Imperial pilot armor approach the Imperial shuttle he stood at the edge of the downed ramp of. They were on Chopper Base as they waited for their time to take off for their mission.

"Ugh, why is Sabine's old suit so tight?!" he heard his wife complain as she tugged at the legs on the suit while she kept her helmet in her elbow. As she approached her husband, she asked in an exasperated voice. "Why aren't you in your disguise? We're leaving here soon. And where's Jalo?"

"How should I know where that little rat is?" Onthant retaliated. "He's supposed to be getting the Stormtrooper armor from Kanan and Rex."

As Cyla looked up, she asked her daughter who was at the top of the ramp, "Where's Rae? You two get the Shadow Cloak to work?"

"She's inside. I'm working little tweaks on mine," Athena told as she continued to fiddle with the device on her wrist. "We got them to condense into these bracelets so in case we stay longer than expected. With the old version, they'd disappear after a certain point. These ensure we are in disguise until we shut them off."

"Good girl," Cyla nodded. " Where's Jalo?"

Athena shrugged, she asked, "Don't know. Is Wedge coming along too? It'd be more believable if we had two pilots."

"Wedge is on another mission with AP-5 and Chopper," Cyla reminded. "We'll be fine."

Athena nodded and hit a button on the bracelet she wore. Soon, pixels formed around her and came together fairly quickly. Soon, there stood a purple twi'lek a little taller than an average Stormtrooper. The disguise Athena now had included a gold dress with two straps over each shoulder and wide neckline that went below her collarbone. The bottom of the dress was cut high in the front, only to her fingertips, and the back flowed to just above her ankles. She wore gold gloves with the bracelet over top that provided the disguise. She nearly tottered over as the silver heels were stupidly tall. A brown cloth was over the base of the lekku and wrapped around her ear cones and she now had brown eyes.

"It works," confirmed in a serious tone of voice, not seeming so overjoyed as she had accomplished this task as she nodded and looked over her disguise. "I guess if I ever have to talk, I'm going to need to use a French accent."

"What a French?" Cyla asked.

"It's a person from a place called France on Earth. They have near the exact same accent as Twi'leki," Onthant told.

"Servants don't talk almost at all," a voice told. Athena, Cyla, and Onthant turned to see Jalo in Stormtrooper armor with his helmet in the nook of his elbow. Another suit of armor was in his other hand with another Stormtrooper helmet. He tossed this armor to Onthant who caught it. Jalo continued, "They keep their mouths shut; just like Stormtroopers if they're in the presence of high ranking officials or public figures like there'll be at this Canted Circle meeting. Especially around Grand Admiral Thrawn."

"Alright, I'll tell Rae that too," Athena confirmed, having a slight Southern accent in her voice. She exhaled sharply as she realized she did the wrong accent.

As he squinted his eyes, Jalo rhetorically asked, "That's what you think a Twi'leki accent is? Hasn't Captain Syndulla not spoke in her accent before in front of you?"

"Yeah, she'll do it when she talks to her dad or she gets mad," Athena said, her arms crossed. "I'd like to see you try it."

He rolled his eyes, Jalo soon uttered a sentence Athena didn't understand as it was in another language. He spoke it with the perfect Twi'leki accent and seemed to be thinking as he spoke fluent Twi'leki.

When he finished speaking in Twi'leki, he looked back to Athena, "I had a stepmother from Ryloth."

"We should get going," Cyla suggested. "Onie, get in your disguise in the 'fresher. We can't waste any more time."

"Yeah, Onie, you should be more time-considerate. We're running on a schedule," Jalo teased.

"Don't think I won't snap your neck, Blondie," Onthant growled.

"Will you two idiots stop fighting for a good fifteen minutes? Is that too much to ask?" Cyla scolded with a snap as she still kept the helmet on her arm.

"He started it," the two said in perfect sync as they pointed to the other.

"I don't care," Cyla snapped. "I'll throw you both into space if you don't act like adults!"

"Woah, go mama-bear," Rae soon came up behind Athena as she came out from the further depths of the shuttle. "You two got told."

"Shut it," Jalo glared at Rae. "Why aren't you in disguise? Get into your disguise."

"Fine…" Rae moaned and pressed the button on her bracelet.

Pixels soon formed around Rae and quickly became a full disguise. A blue togruta soon stood where Rae once stood as she was the same height as Athena's disguise. They both had the same dresses and gloves as well as the same high heels. The three head-tails were a dark grey with gold markings on them and the ends reached to her waist. Her face was decorated with white face markings as they were on her light blue face. She now had dark blue eyes as she looked at her disguise.

"Alright, let's go. It's going to be a long trip to Coruscant," Athena encouraged.

Their mission was simple but extremely dangerous. The four rebels would fly to Coruscant to go to this Canted Circle meeting that Admiral Thrawn was to attend. The Canted Circle was an elite social class that included many important politicians and officers from the Empire. They had gotten intel that Thrawn had the possession of the plans for new weapons factories to be built in the Outer Rim that would be vital to the rebellion.

Jalo, Cyla, and Onthant had the most experience of Coruscant, having lived there for so long. Athena did this mission against the recommendation of Commander Sato and the Ghost crew as this was the heart of the Empire and she was known too well. She did this mission anyway, saying that she needs to go on a mission every once and awhile to keep herself useful. Rae was basically Cyla's Padawan now as they slowly began to form a bond as Cyla trained Rae. It was faint, but still there.

Kanan and Cyla had slightly thought of the idea that Jalo should take over Athena's training because Cyla focused on Rae and Kanan focused on training Ezra, so Athena didn't have the direct attention she needed for her training. She refused; her sudden severed bond with Ahsoka still bled with hurt and refused to scab over. Though, she seemed to be the most non-callous towards Jalo; Rae in second. She seemed to know the hurt he felt just like she understood Rae.

Rae and she both were trained to be Inquisitors, lost their Jedi Master to the Empire, and had no family at some point in their life. Athena seemed to sympathize Jalo because she knew the feeling of hating that part of themselves for things they did before. Rae was still a little skittish to Jalo as she knew him when he was still turned Dark, and that was all she knew of him for so long. But, she knew the feeling of having the difficult road of coming back to the Light.

As Onthant entered the cockpit of the Imperial shuttle, he tugged at his Stormtrooper armor as it was tighter than he expected. Jalo turned to him, his helmet in his hand just like Onthant, and a smirk on his face.

"So, you gained a few pounds, old man?" Jalo joked.

"I'm only six years older than you," Onthant growled.

"Why do you two always fight?" Athena asked as she turned to the two. It was still a little offsetting how Athena was disguised as another species as was Rae.

"It's what siblings do, Syla," Cyla answered as she piloted the shuttle. "Look at you and your brother. You two could kill each other if it wasn't for Hera."

"So, are you two biological brothers, or are you just adoptive brothers?" Rae asked.

"Well…" the two males trailed off as they shared a glance.

"We should be approaching Coruscant here in about twenty minutes," Cyla cut short the conversation as she took off the helmet and put it on her side. "The codes need to be sent yet by the fleet, but I imagine they're coming in soon."

As her new purple lekku swung with her head when she turned to her mother, Athena asked, "Coruscant is basically the heart of the Empire. How are we going to be undetected the entire time we're there? We only made it to Coruscant and back the last time because we spent the entire time in the lower levels."

"After Jalo and Onthant get the plans for the new factories in the Outer Rim from Thrawn's office, we'll all head back to the shuttle. If it goes well, they won't even know we took the plans and we'll leave. If not, we'll have to stay in the lower levels until needed."

"We won't have any backup from the rebels as we're too far for them to travel to," Jalo added. "We have to get in, get out, and be as incognito as possible."

"So, what's the plan, exactly?" Onthant asked. "Where is Thrawn's office?"

As Rae stood from the co-pilot chair, she pressed the bracelet over her gold glove to display a hologram of a grand building. It looked old for this galaxy, but the structure was very well other than one tilted floor. Rae pointed to a platform on the building that was big enough to fit well over a hundred people.

"Here is the main deck, it's where the gathering is," Rae began. "Athena and I will distract Thrawn and the guards at the door while you two patrol the deck."

Athena pointed to the arc of a door that led to the building from the deck, "When we give the signal when we got the guards under control and him distracted, you two will exit through this door and head to his office here." she pointed to a room two floors up. "There'll be security camera's all along your route. Mom, can you hack into them and make a loop so they can't see them?"

"I'll get right on it when we land," Cyla confirmed.

"There's probably going to be a couple guards at his office, too," Rae informed. "You'll have to use the Force, Jalo, to let you pass. They'll be difficult. Maybe put them to sleep for five or ten minutes so they wake up when you're gone and before Thrawn gets back to his office."

"Alright, but there might be a scanner to get into his computer," Jalo pointed out.

"I can possibly reset in and add one of us in," Onthant suggested. "I'll delete whatever we add so they have no idea we were there."

"You guys got a disc you can put the plans on?" Athena asked.

"Already got one," Jalo nodded.

"The Canted Circle is one of the most exclusive clubs there is in the galaxy. There will be plenty of high-ranking officials and such there," Cyla reminded. "You can't even risk having them see you since we are some of the most known people in this galaxy."

"Even you, Onthant," Jalo turned to him. "They might have cameras that scan our eyes and you'll come up in the system very quickly." Jalo turned to Rae and Athena. "And you two, do your best to not break your Shadow Cloaks. You'll be recognized quicker than any of us."

"Got it," the two nodded.

"Alright, let's just make sure we remember what side we're on," Onthant solemnly remarked as he glared at Jalo.

Jalo glared back and was about to say something until Cyla cut them both off.

"Do you want me to stop this ship? Because I will and you don't want that," Cyla warned.

About an hour later, Athena and Rae found themselves holding trays full of drinks as they walked around the main deck as planned. There were a few other servants; mostly droids and twi'leks. Onthant and Jalo had their Stormtrooper helmets on as they held the blasters in hand while they patrolled around, keeping an eye out for the signal Rae and Athena were to give when they were supposed to go to Thrawn's office.

The Canted Circle meeting was fairly fancy as the buildings around seemed to glitter with the sun glinting off them and the deck had many ornate designs fit for such a formal event. There were several plants in pots here and there as well as tropical flowers from exotic planets to add to the decoration. Almost all the members that had shown up to this meeting that day were human, except for one man with blue skin and red eyes. Emperor Palpatine did not show up to this event, thankfully, as their intel showed that he canceled his trip to go due to an increase in rebel activity.

Athena was holding a tray as a couple of men grabbed the sparkling drinks off of the platter and winked at her. Athena internally puked as she hated this flirting from these men, but she just smiled and stayed in character as an obedient servant. She hated this dress, she hated these heels, she hated the flirting, but she shut up and stuck to the plan.

Rae froze when she heard a voice behind her call for a drink. He had a slight British accent and she turned around to face the Chiss with red eyes and blue skin. He was talking to a few other Imperial officials as she walked over to the group, them each taking a drink.

"It is not common for a togruta for have blue skin," Thrawn commented. "You are one of the more valuable of slaves for your species for your rarity."

Rae smiled and nodded, keeping her mouth shut. She silently called out through the Force to Athena to get her attention so she knew this may be the chance she could distract him.

"Would you like to dance?" the Chiss offered, his hand outstretched to Rae.

Rae was doing her best to nearly scream through the Force to get Athena's attention at this point.

Rae smiled and placed her tray next to her on the table not too far away; carefully putting it down on top of the white tablecloth. She let Thrawn take her hand and they walked to the platform where other officers were dancing with other servants. She let him take hold of her one hand and them both soon dance to the song softly playing.

This action made Rae wonder very much. She knew Thrawn would never waste his time dancing with some servant when he could be talking with the officers to help the Empire rule the galaxy. Time was very valuable to him and this wasn't a way he'd spend it. The fact he was the highest ranking officer on the dance floor made Rae worry even more as this was not a way for a man of his power to act; dancing with a servant.

She soon felt a ping through the Force. It was small, but noticeable to her. It was Athena. She darted her now blue eyes to where she sensed her friend and saw the purple twi'lek watching them. She gave a slight nod and Rae gave a confirming blink.

Athena soon made her way to put her tray down and headed to the door where two guards stood. They were no Stormtroopers. They wore black armor with the helmet a bit of a different shape. Their blasters were much more heavy duty than a Stormtroopers and they wore thick, black, combat boots. She faked a giggle as she forced her eyes to flash a purple and she walked past the two and out the door. She was getting used to this power that controlled the feeling of love but refused to use it almost ever. Especially on Ezra.

The two guards seemed to be entranced by her and followed her down the hall.

The hall was well decorated and had silver designs over the turquoise walls. The ceiling was in an arc and the floor was a white marble. She walked a few meters, the two guards following her before she made a turn down another hall. As soon as they turned down the hall behind her, she turned around. She kicked the one guard in the stomach as she took the blaster out of the other's hand. She swung the blaster at the one she took it from, knocking him out cold. She elbowed the other one in the neck, making him hit the floor hard enough that he was also unconscious.

She felt a small shock on her wrist as the pixels around her crackled a little. She looked at her bracelet and began to fiddle with and saw a wire had come loose and was exposed. She tucked it back into the bracelet the best she could and did her best to temporarily reattach it. She hit a jewel on the bracelet that acted as the signal to be sent to Jalo, Onthant, and Cyla before she walked back towards the deck.

Two Stormtroopers passed by her and they nodded. She nodded back at Jalo and her dad as she continued to walk.

"Do you know where we are actually going?" Jalo asked. "Or did you forget already?"

"I remember," Onthant grumbled as they turned to walk to the elevator. "I'm not that old."

The two got into the elevator and Jalo took his lightsaber off the back of his belt and held it in hand. Onthant got seriously nervous and back away as he held his finger on the trigger of his blaster. Jalo could sense his nervousness and turned to him.

"You think I'm going to attack you?" Jalo said with a bit of hurt in his voice as he sensed the fear and tension rise in Onthant.

Onthant said nothing and let out a small sigh.

Jalo knitted his eyebrows together as he still wore the helmet as he turned away, hiding his lightsaber in front of himself.

"I'm sorry," Jalo solemnly spoke. "I-I don't want you to think I'm a part of them anymore. I sense some guards on the next level and…"

"We should ask if Cyla got the cameras froze," Onthant suggested as he pulled out his com. "Green eyes, you got the cameras under control?"

"Got it, Blue eyes," Cyla's voice came over the com. "You and Blondie on your way?"

"We're almost there," Jalo spoke.

Onthant put the com back on his belt.

Jalo asked, "Why couldn't we think of better code names? Your daughter applies to two of this team's code names and I even apply to your code name."

"The girls go by Specter 7 and Specter 8. They know that" Onthant reminded. "And I've called you Blondie forever."

The elevator door opened and they both stepped out as they headed to where Thrawn's office was. Once they got to the corner just before, they stopped and peered around it to see two guards just like the ones Athena had encountered before. Jalo held his hand up to his old brother as his other hand held his lightsaber.

After a moment, Jalo stepped out from the corner as the red blade activated in his hand. The guards noticed and turned to him as they began to fire. It only took a moment for Jalo to block these shots and use the Force to rip the blasters out of their hands. He put his hands in front of his and focused on the minds of the guards.

He searched through their minds and soon came across the memory of what was happening now. He soon clenched his hands into a fist and each of them fell to the ground like flies. Onthant came out from around the corner and the two propped the guards to sit up against the sides of the gray door after Jalo put his lightsaber back on the back of his belt. The guards' blasters propped in their hands also; each out of ammo as they emptied them.

"Alright, how are we gonna get in?" Onthant asked.

"Give me a minute," Jalo said as he kneeled in front of the lock and fiddled with the wires. "I learned a few tricks to these."

Onthant looked up at the door as it slid open. Jalo stood up and the two ran into the office.

The office was fairly dull compared to the rest of the building. It was almost make-shift as it seemed to be lacking in much...anything. There was a desk and a few datapads with a chair.

The two soon began to scour through the data pads as they searched for the information they needed.

"I think I found it," said Jalo as he looked over a datapad.

"Alright, let's download the info on that thing," Onthant handed him a small chip.

Jalo plugged in the chip and waited as he saw it loading.

"This is a little easier than we thought," Onthant commented. "He didn't even have a main computer or any access codes for that."

"Yeah...a little too easy…" Jalo slowly commented as he looked up to Onthant.

Jalo sighed as an alarm split the air and he looked over to Onthant.

"Alright, you were right," Onthant shrugged. "It was a little too easy."

With Rae and Athena, Athena carefully walked around as she sat down yet another empty tray as they drinks had all been taken. She dusted off her golden gloves on her dress. Rae was still dancing with the Grand Admiral, they had been dancing for about three minutes now, the song now coming to an end.

Athena's head snapped around as she heard a small beeping noise. She noticed Thrawn look at a device on his wrist that was like an alarm. The blue togruta Rae was disguised as swung a punch towards Thrawn.

That was a signal if Athena ever saw one.

She grabbed the saucer of a silver tray, she shouted, "SPECTER 8, DUCK!"

Rae quickly ducked as Athena threw the tray as if it were a frisbee in the direction of Thrawn's head. He barely was able to duck and blocked it with his arms over his head.

"Specter 7, Specter 8, get out of there. They know we're here," Jalo's voice came over the coms. "Get to the ship!"

"We figured that out, idiot!" Rae shouted into her com as she ducked the punch Thrawn threw.

Athena looked to her right to see a servant droid with a tray in her hands and seemed petrified in fear Athena snatched the tray from out its hands and ran towards Thrawn and Rae. She ran up behind the Chiss and swung the tray at the back of Thrawn's head. He nearly doubled over from the pain of the tray smashing over his head.

While he was distracted by the pain, the two girls nodded and began to run off in the other direction as did most of the guests at the party. Rae and Athena were at the door, Rae a little ahead of Athena when Athena fell, feeling a sharp pain in her leg as a silver tray bounced off it.

Rae had not noticed this as she continued to run and Athena made no sound to indicate she was separated from her friend or hurt.

Athena turned around to see Thrawn standing a few meters away as he had obviously thrown the tray. She quickly got up and got ready to fight.

The Chiss charged at her and Athena quickly dodged his swing. She knew she was small compared to him, and she knew he was a good fighter. Better than anyone she had ever faced in hand-to-hand combat. Athena didn't want to use the Force or any of her powers. They didn't know who she was behind the Shadow Cloak, it was best to keep it this way.

Athena was near tripping on her heels as she ducked his throws constantly. When she did finally trip from a misstep in her heels, he took advantage of this and landed a full contact punch in the face. She fell backward and hit the ground with a thump. Her bracelet shocked her just enough to keep her awake as the pixels around her disappeared for a brief moment. Just enough for Thrawn to notice her face.

She was weak as she felt drowsiness come from the hit she suffered to the head. She couldn't even get up.

Thrawn came over to Athena and noticed the bracelet on her wrist slightly sparking with electricity. He stomped on her wrist, shattering the bracelet as well as her left wrist. Athena let out a scream of agony as she felt her bones shatter in her wrist and Thrawn continued to press on it with his boot. Her disguise disappeared and Thrawn could see the human girl with short hair.

"So, this is what the rebels are made of now?" Thrawn said. "A bunch of children?"

As Athena began to block out the pain in her wrist, she remembered the others and she needed to get out of there as this was the heart of the Empire. She swung her right fist and made full contact with Thrawn's knee. He stumbled back and Athena stood up, but immediately regretted it as she felt her head was still throbbing.

"Hey!" Thrawn looked up as he heard the male voice. It came from a man in Stormtrooper armor as he stood at the door. His helmet was off and it showed he had dark blonde hair and light blue eyes. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?!"

Athena smiled as she saw Jalo.

"Ah, another rebel has come to the rescue for the child," Thrawn seemed amused.

"Hey, I got a problem with you if you hurt my niece," Jalo said as he stood at the door still. He held his hand out and used the Force to push Thrawn back to the edge of the platform and into the railing.

He hit the marble siding with immense force and he fell to the ground. Jalo ran over to Athena and grabbed her wrist as she seemed to want to collapse. She let out a scream of pain as he grabbed onto her broken wrist. He looked at her wrist and saw it had begun to turn black and blue. Being closer to her, he saw the black eye around her right eye starting to form where Thrawn had punched her as well as a cut lip she got when she hit the ground.

"I'm fine," Athena assured, her head throbbing with pain. "We need to get outta here."

"Come on," Jalo encouraged as he put Athena's right arm over his shoulder and supported her. "You hit your head a little too hard to be running."

"Where's Mom?" Athena asked as Jalo supported her and they walked down the halls.

"She should be at the rendezvous point here soon," Jalo answered. "Onthant is already there and Rae is on her way. They're probably both there by now."

"We have to hurry; the Imperials will attack them here soon if we don't get to cover," Athena said as she took her arm off Jalo and began to run, only to nearly collapse three steps after.

"You can't run," Jalo said as he grabbed Athena's arm to support her again. "You hit your head."

"We have to hurry," Athena opposed. "That or they're going to have to leave without us. I can't be babied and hold your hand all the way to the ship."

"Then you'll need to be carried," Jalo said. He held his hand out in front of Athena as she was about to argue, her argument was cut short as soon as he clenched his hand as he still held it out and she fell unconscious.

Athena began to try to open her eyes as she saw nothing. She couldn't see Abeloth, so that meant her eyes weren't closed. But, she couldn't see. Her head felt light as a portion of the pain was replaced with a coolness on her head. She couldn't even feel her left wrist.

"Is she awake, yet?" a warbled voice could be heard. Athena felt like she recognized that voice...Jalo.

"I don't know," another warped voice said. This one wasn't familiar. "Her right eye is a little too swollen to open and I can't see the left eye under her hair. Why can't ya move her hair away from her eye again?"

"Here, we can move her hair just to see her eye. See if she's even responsive," Jalo suggested.

Athena panicked as she felt a hand on her face by her left eye and her bangs that covered up her eye and her blaster wound. She reacted quickly and swung her right fist in the direction she felt the hand come from.

"Ow!" Jalo complained of pain as he had a nasal voice.

"Ha! She sure is her mother's daughter!" another male laughed. His voice sounded like...a rodian? What rodian does she know? How does he know her mother?

"I-I can't see! Why can't I open my eye?" Athena began to slightly panic. "Where am I?! What happened?!"

"Hey, hey, hey," Athena heard the comforting voice of her mother rush to her side as she placed a hand on her daughter's right shoulder. "You're ok."

"I can't see…" Athena had a shaky voice. "What happened? Where am I?"

"You got a pretty bad hit to the head by your eye," the male voice said. "The swelling should go down in a few hours."

"Who are you?!" Athena demanded. " What happened to me? What swelling are you talking about?"

Letting out a sigh, Jalo calmly asked, "Kid, how much do you remember?"

Athena contemplated for a moment. She wasn't really sure on what had brain felt like mush and her memory was blurry.

"I… I remember fighting you showed up. My wrist…"

"Your wrist is broken," Cyla told. "We were hoping you'd use your healing powers to fix it in your sleep. It wasn't healing so we had to put some bacta on it after we put it in a splint. You had a couple injuries to your head that we also put bacta on. Do you feel light headed?"

"Mom? Am...am I blind forever?" Athena shakily asked as she sat there on the ground. She could now hear some outside noise. Almost like a busy city.

"No," she could hear her father walk in her direction. "The swelling should go down by tomorrow if we're lucky."

Athena could hear her father lightly laugh and she felt in the Force that Jalo was getting annoyed.

"Shut up," Jalo spoke in a nasal voice as he scowled at his brother.

"Did we get the plans?" Athena asked. "Where's Rae? Is she ok?"

"Yeah," her friend answered. "We just gotta wait down here until Imperial forces lessen up."

"Where are we?" Athena inquired.

"Welcome to the Solarburn Repairs and Restoration shop, kiddo," Onthant said.

As Athena turned to where she had last heard that rodian's voice, she slowly asked, "So...you must be that rodian Strive."

"Nice to see ya again, Syla," the rodian held his hand out for Athena.

After a second of the best scowl, Athena could give for a second, Strive realized his mistake.

"Oh...well, it's nice to see you again. Though, you can't see me," Strive laughed.

Athena growled and was about to bark an insult until she remembered when Hondo had made a comment like that to Kanan. He was actually and permanently blind, but he kept his cool and didn't react harshly towards the comments. She could imagine that Kanan would want Athena to stay calm and collective too if she was to become a Jedi. And Ahsoka…she wouldn't want Athena to get upset over something so little.

"Nice to hear your voice again," Athena shook hands with the rodian with her right hand. "People call me Athena. Athena Jarrus."

"So, do you think you're going to be able to heal your wrist and your eye here soon?" Rae asked her friend. "We're expected to leave in three rotations."

"Yeah," Athena responded. "How bad did I get beat up?"

"Pretty bad," Jalo told. "I had to save you behind before you got yourself killed or captured."

As she slowly thought, Athena did her best to remember the mixed up memories from the last time she was conscious. She remembered fighting Thrawn...he hit her head...he stomped on her wrist...she got him off herself...Jalo came. What did he say that she remembered being so complexed about..? She wanted to ask a question about only a little part of what he said…

"You called me your niece…" Athena mumbled.

"What?" Jalo asked, straining to hear what she mumbled.

"You called me your niece," Athena said softly. "Are you really my uncle?"

"You two idiots never told her?" Strive commented as he looked to Jalo and Onthant.

Rae knitted her eyes at her former Master who still kneeled in front of Athena. Cyla knelled behind her daughter as she still had a compassionate hand on her daughter. Strive sat on a crate a little to the right of Athena and Cyla. Rae sat on a crate just behind Jalo while Onthant stood next to her.

"You two are biological brothers?" Rae questioned. "Why didn't you respond to my question when we were on our way? What's the big deal about you two being brothers?"

"It's not relevant," Jalo stated as he looked back at Rae. "We have more important things to worry about rather than me having to share blood with that idiot."

"Do we have to have this discussion now?" Cyla sighed, annoyed.

"I think that it's ridiculous!" Rae exclaimed, her brown eyes seemingly angry. "Why are you two that immature that we can't discuss who we're all related to?!"

"Padawan Styles," Cyla snapped as she stood. "I do not know why you are so mad about this subject. This does not pertain to you."

"It does if I know you can't trust me with these things!" Rae snapped.

"You don't ever mention anything about who your family was. You know more than anyone that it doesn't matter," Jalo said as he looked at Rae.

"What do you know about my family before the rebellion?!" Rae seemed infuriated as she stood up.

"Rachelle," Cyla snapped. "There is no mean to get so upset over this matter."

"But-"

"Either you check your anger or you can just sit on the other side of the shop," Cyla warned. "We will discuss this matter later."

Rae let out a deep, angry, sigh through her nose and slumped her shoulders.

"Alright, let's let the kid have some rest so she can heal herself up," Onthant suggested. "I'll get to work on seeing what we can do with what we got from Thrawn's office."

"Grand Admiral Thrawn, you must realize that we have a great concern for your safety after the attack on you on Coruscant," Governor Pryce argued as she followed not too far behind Thrawn as they walked down the halls of a Star Destroyer named Chimaera. "You can't possibly be thinking of actually further investigating this incident. Why not let another one of our lower officers take care of it and find these attackers?"

As he adjusted the collar of his sleeve, Thrawn stated, "Most lower officers fail to produce results. This meeting I was attending had many high-ranking officials present. This group of rebels could've caused mayhem within the Empire if a number of them were to have been injured or killed. The rebels coming to the heart of the Empire is revealing how daring they are becoming."

"You believe that these rebels that lead the attack are part of a larger rebellion?" the governor inquired, her blue eyes squinting in question.

As they entered Thrawn's office, the Chiss walked over to his desk and hit a button to project a screen in the air as the lights in the room dimmed for it to be more visible. It showed a photo of the blonde man that had used the Force to push Thrawn to support the girl with a green eye.

"This man is a former Inquisitor," Thrawn pointed at the man with dark blonde hair and a faint distinction of a beard. "His name is Jalo Hikra. He mentioned this girl is his niece."

"And what does this have to do with the other rebels?"

"This girl...she actually has the highest bounty on her ever set by the Empire. Athena Jarrus. Her brother is the Jedi Master of the Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger. I would imagine as her name given to her by birth was Syla Dume that she had met her brother and his Padawan, as well as the Phoenix squadron, to have changed her name for them to have the same last name," Thrawn told as he switched the photo over to another of the same teenage girl. This photo was an Imperial identification one as she stood in front of a height marker and had long hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. "She was captured and trained as an Inquisitor at a top-secret location. Her actions while she was there is very...concerning…"

"What do you mean?" Governor Pryce asked.

"She had killed all of the Inquisitors-in-training single-handedly," Thrawn told. "184 students to be exact."

"That's impossible!" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"And that's what we had thought," Thrawn told as he slowly strode from the hologram to the works of art hung across his office. "But, we also thought Earthlings being Force-sensitive was impossible also."

"How would you come up with the idea that she is from Earth?"

As he stopped in front of a picture of some sort of flag that Governor Pryce did not recognize, Thrawn stated, "We have information that this girl had been retrieved after she had killed these Inquisitors-in-training; she was transported by a bounty hunter. This bounty hunter was killed...his body was found on a ship after it was sent to an Imperial base in the Outer Rim. He had a wound that only could be inflicted by an Earthling weapon. A blaster shot almost...but they use pieces of metal to shoot each other on the same wound this bounty hunter had. And there is one country on this Earth that has used bounty hunters in our galaxy previously that I believe would be the home country of this girl."

"And you believe that this 'country' was in cooperation with the girl and the rebellion?"

"No," Thrawn turned from the flag to look towards the governor. "This country is called the United States of America that had retrieved her. And based on the intel I have collected concerning this girl, I can confirm she is indeed an American. This country would not dare get involved with fighting the Galactic Empire, but they would want this girl to fight for them. As she has shown to be extremely useful, these Earthlings would hire a bounty hunter fairly quickly to retrieve her again as they've done it before to retrieve her and the Jedi Kanan Jarrus."

"So...what does this all mean?" Governor Pryce questioned. "Why does it matter that this girl is from Earth? Sure they are more primordial, but not enough to concern the Empire."

"The Americans are a certain type of people that could be a concern, though. The main problem with these people is that even if you were to read every manual they had produced, the Americans feel no obligation to read their manuals nor follow their doctrine. They often are unpredictable...and that's what made their entire country. They often preach freedom and rebellion in their livelihood in this country and it fuels their people to go to war," Thrawn told. "Earth is filled with chaos, so that's what their people are most used to. War can be chaotic if not coordinated, and that's what they are most used to. It's their home field. War is their home field. This girl can carry over these ideas into the rebellion and their attacks."

"And if the rebellion does pick up on this planet's systems of war, would we not know how they'd react? There must be some sort of pattern in their war tactics."

"Barely," Thrawn stated. "This girl and what she was raised by promotes a legitimate concern for the Empire. This is a whole new type of war we'd be fighting if they were to adapt to Earth's tactics of war."

As Rae sat next to Athena on a crate she placed a new ice pack on her friends head on the right side of her face. She had just gotten back from getting rid of her friend's splint as Athena had healed her wrist completely. Her right eye still wasn't able to work as they swelling would not go down. Athena said that for her eyes, she'll just let it go through the natural healing process since she didn't want to risk ruining her right eye's vision permanently.

"Rae, do you need me to watch her for a while?" Jalo asked. "I know you like to go explore big cities. I don't want to keep you stuck inside."

"I'm fine," Rae responded.

"You sure? I'm fine," Athena assured. "I can just hang back for a little while."

As she shook her head, Rae responded, "I'm fine."

"Hey," Athena turned to Jalo. "I know that you didn't meet Onthant until you were like eleven. But, if you're brothers, why did it take so long until you meet?"

"We actually didn't know we were even related until I was fourteen and Caleb was just born," Jalo admitted.

"Wait, what?" Rae asked, puzzled. "You two knew each other for three years and didn't know you were brothers?"

"How did you two figure out you were related then?" Athena asked.

As Jalo let out a sigh, he stated, "When I got my foot cut off, I needed blood. Onthant had to donate blood and we found out then that we were related."

"You got your foot cut off?!" Athena questioned, surprised.

"Yeah," Jalo stated. "I got some cybernetics as a replacement for my foot."

"You never told me either," Rae stated with a smile on her face.

With a scowl on his face, Jalo stated, "That was because you figured it out when you accidentally turned on the magnetic lock on the ceiling one time when you were my Apprentice."

"It was hilarious and you know it," Rae stated. "But, you never said how you lost it."

"And how did you meet Dad?" Athena questioned.

"Well...it's a long story," Jalo said as he stood up and dusted off his hands on his pant leg. "I should see if I can help fix up anything around here. Strive must be overwhelmed running this place by himself."

"Come on," Athena spoke up. "Please? Tell us the story."

"Yeah, come on, Jalo. Will you tell your poor, blind, little niece the story?" Rae put on a fake puppy face.

As he looked to Rae with an annoyed face, he stated, "The last time you did that face, you somehow managed to get me to get you a tooka for your birthday about two or three years ago."

"Whatever happened to that tooka?" Rae asked.

"I honestly have no idea," Jalo shrugged his shoulders. "I think it ran away somewhere in the Outer Rim."

"Are you gonna to tell us the story or not?" Athena questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.

With a sigh, Jalo stated, "Fine."

* * *

 **For those who've read my previous stories and have read this, I have this to say:**

 **AWWW! You guys are really committed to this storyline! Thanks :3**

 **And that this is taking place during the episode "Double Agent Droid"**


	3. Chapter 2- I get a family

I was eleven. Yes, just the age of eleven when I grew up on my own in the streets in the Under City of Coruscant. My usual area was in Slum District G-17 that I roamed and scavenged for food. I didn't have anyone to look out for me and I didn't look out for anyone else. I just had to survive on whatever means I could manage. Being a scrawny kid, probably looking much younger than I really was, I was able to sleep in air ducts and use them for passage ways. Sometimes, getting an extra buck for food or some shoes meant some stealing to sell on the black market. Nothing much, though. I still didn't have that much strength due to lack of food.

My memory is mostly a blur for it had been so long ago since I was that young, but I can remember one day much clearer than the others.

There was something in the air that I felt. It was...strange, to say the least. It was as if it was calling me to follow it. Like a whisper. At first, it seemed absurd to follow this feeling. But, I didn't really listen to reason much. The whisper nearly dragged me to an old, small, garage where a sign lit in neon red hung above the door. My feet were sure to creep at every step as I looked around the shop. I figured it was a repair shop by the amount of vehicles and old droids there were. I didn't really know. I couldn't read.

The whisper began to lead me to a pile in the back corner of the garage where it was just junk. Old metal, broken pieces, and forgotten droids that others had given up on. An R3 unit caught my eye as it was in the front of the pile as it had been recently added. I kneeled down next to the black droid with orange highlights on various parts of it to break the darkness in the paint. My hands soon drifted over the droid as I looked over it. There were a few problems with the droid. A corroded battery, broken camera, etcetera. Nothing a little time and effort couldn't fix.

I don't know how long I had worked on that R3 unit, but it was long enough to where I felt myself leave the ground as a hand gripped around my upper arm. My body nearly flew up into the air as I must've been lighter than whoever picked me up had expected. The owner of the hand was soon discovered by me as he turned me around.

He was about seventeen. Fairly tall; I only stood at his chest at best. He had dusty brown hair that was short on the sides and spiked in the front. I remember his expression was angry at me as he glared at me with his blue eyes that were about the same shade as my eyes.

"Get out of here, street rat!" he yelled at me. "Go steal something somewhere else!"

"But- I was just fixing the droid-" I stuttered.

"Onthant! Where are you?" I heard another male voice call from afar. The owner of the voice was soon revealed as a man approached. He was probably in his late thirties or early forties as his rusty brown and red hair had small strands of grey in them. He looked fairly scary to a little kid like me as he stood at almost two meters and his hazel eyes looked annoyed. His face was gruff and his clothes stained in oil as well as some of his skin.

"I told you to fix that light in the back room!" the older man complained to the boy that held my arm in a tight grip still.

"Hold on. I gotta take care of this little thief, Dad."

"I wasn't trying to steal!" I squirmed. "I was just fixing that droid."

The older man looked to me and had to squint to see my eyes under my long, blonde, bangs that had grown out into a ragged mess. He probably couldn't even see my freckles as they were smudged under so much dirt and grime. His eyes looked sharply to the R3 unit that sat behind me. He stepped to the astromech as his son still kept a strong grip on my arm. After he pressed the button on the droid to turn it on, the droid sparked to life and whirred. It was able to work due to the fact I used the trash to fix the droid. It wasn't the best fix, but it worked. The older man stood up and looked over to me as if he was wondering if I was even saying the truth.

"How did you know how to fix that droid, kid?"

"I don't know. I just know, I guess," I responded.

As he kept a gaze on me, the man asked, "Where's your parents?"

I remained silent.

After a moment, he asked, "What's your name?"

"Jalo. Jalo Hikra."

"I'm Canto. Canto Solarburn," the man crouched down in front of me to my height and stuck out his hand for me to take it. We shook hands. "Onthant, let the kid go."

I felt the hand release my arm as a disapproved sigh followed from the boy.

"You got a home, boy? Anyone look after ya?" Canto asked.

I shook my head side-to-side.

"Now, can you fix things up like you just did normally?"

"I guess…"

"Dad, we can't think about keeping it. This rat's probably not even nine."

"Son, I'm getting old and you and I can't keep this shop on our own," the man stood up and looked to his son.

The argument Onthant was about to spit out was cut short by his dad when he proclaimed:

"The boy is allowed to stay. I don't want to hear another word out of you about this."

I didn't even get to choose if I stayed or not. Those two just decided I was going to stay. But, truth be told, I probably would've chose to stay anyways. Canto gave me the offer to stay with them and work at the shop with him and his son for the exchange of some food and shelter. Sounded like a pretty good deal to me. Getting free food for fixing up some old droids and speeder bikes? A street rat like I was couldn't be offered too much of a better deal.

Even though I was on ok terms with Canto, Onthant wasn't fond of me around. This was very prominent for the next couple rotations I stayed with the two. I named the R3 unit I fixed Beepy. It's a cheesy name for a droid, I know. But what do you expect out of a kid? I used the droid for helping around the place as he was useful for welding, being a flashlight, and an occasional companion.

The fact I called Onthant "big brother" one time probably didn't make matters better between me and him. Since I was so small, he could easily pick me up and keep a distance between him and me by simply shoving me and thus sending me a good few meters away.

When I was with the two, I got some new clothes since my old one weren't any protection needed around the shop. I got some long pants and a long-sleeve shirt, both fairly baggy as I was too small for them. I often covered my face from the bridge of my nose down with a bandana to keep out any fumes just like Onthant who always wore a bandana. It was fairly hard to see sometimes as my bangs kept covering my eyes since I refused to let Canto or Onthant anywhere near me with scissors and I couldn't handle them myself, so I just let my hair go the way it was.

I didn't say too much to anyone the first few rotations I stayed. My words usually few and far between as I just got my work done and got my food and I got to sleep in a little bed I made myself. I had never said anything to a single customer until the day I nearly got myself killed.

My eyes darted up from my work as a trandoshan walked in the door. He was fairly tall and had a menacing look on his face. A blaster was strapped onto his hip as well as several knives all along his belt. My memory recalls that R3 unit I had as my companion roll over to the male to greet him.

How innocent and sweet that droid was! How benevolent! How foolish!

I nearly threw my wrench at the trandoshan out of pure anger when my droid was chucked a good few meters away from him. My memory doesn't really recall what exactly I yelled at the man, but it was enough to get Onthant up to confront the man before he could reach me. Probably wanting to make sure he didn't have to clean up whatever blood I would leave if the trandoshan had killed me.

At the time, Onthant wasn't fully grown to his eventual height; probably 180 centimeters at most. He was only to the chin of the trandoshan as he placed a firm hand on his shoulder to keep a distance between me and him.

"Hey! I wouldn't do that if I were you, sir," he warned as he pulled his bandana off his face while I still kept mine on.

The trandoshan hissed as he looked down to him, "Is he one of your workers?"

"Yes. He's new; I'm very sorry about his behaviour."

Before I could even blink, the claws of the reptilian man wrapped around Onthant's neck. It was even quicker for him to shove him to the ground. My eyes widened with fear as I saw a tattoo on his left arm that was infamous in the Under City. Black Heth. It was a troublesome group near Slum District G-17 that was always harassing citizens and often adding another number to the kill count if they didn't comply to giving over their possessions or money.

"I'll be forgiving this time," he hissed. "Teach your workers some good customer-relationship skills. And don't forget that Snipe is your first complaint." The thumb of the trandoshan jammed at his chest as he spoke before he glared at me and then left.

Onthant was still on the ground on his bottom with his hand rubbing over the pain that was prominent on his throat. I was about to approach him when he stopped me by putting up a hand as he slowly stood up.

He spoke so hoarse as he still gripped his throat, "I'm fine!"

"I-I'm sorry about all that."

"It's fine...I saw he's part of Black Heth. They're a common scum that comes in here every once and awhile. Just-just don't anger anyone. Keep your head down and try to act hospitable towards customers."

"Thanks for that."

"Don't get used to it, kid."


	4. Chapter 3- A bird steals my lunch

Over the next year I spent with Onthant and Canto, they allowed me to then sleep at their apartment.

Within that time, Onthant was a jerk. I'm not exaggerating.

Since I was so small, he'd always put me in headlocks, steal my food at the table, and blame whatever he could on me. I guess that's how big brothers treat their younger brothers because that's what we basically acted like. Canto would always have to break up our little fights. Especially when I got tired of his crap and fought back; often jumping onto his shoulders and trying to choke him while he punched me in the gut. One time, he literally taped me onto the wall by my ankles! The torture from him lessened as time went on, but it was still prominent. There were times when he really acted like the brother I never had, at other times I wanted to kill him. I guess that's family for you.

I don't really remember what exactly I broke to get a beating with a belt from Canto, but it must've been really bad. I remember being in so much pain after I got the belt that I was crying. As work still needed to be done, my tears had to wait until I was done with work. This attempt to not cry wasn't going so well as I could tell Onthant could tell I was in pain. He obviously had some pity for me as it was visible in his eyes. He probably knew the pain himself of a beating from a belt.

His attempts to cheer me up by saying, "Hey, you're alright. Just ...kept your chin up, kid."did not work whatsoever. I still cried stifled tears as I continued my repairs on a speeder bike.

I remember Onthant and I had to share a table for our tools to be put on as it sat in between our work spaces. It was a fairly long table, about 2.5 meters so it reached to the arm length of each of us. At that time, Onthant was on his lunch I still sniffled from the tears, Onthant began to rhythmically tap on the table with a pencil as he sat his sandwich down. I looked up to him and he gave me a half-smirk; something he always did when trying to encourage me to either follow him or I actually did something right that he noticed. I paused for a moment and he began the rhythm again. After a moment, he must've given up on me because he sat down the pencil and continued to eat his lunch. His eyes look up from his food when I then began to tap the rhythm on the table with my wrench. He smirked again and then continued the beat with his pencil.

The little drumming session we made got more complicated as time passed and became a little faster. It came to a halt when a rag was thrown at Onthant and he caught it. He looked over to see his dad as he held the oily rag.

"There's a landspeeder that needs wiped down before the customers come to pick it up," Canto said.

As Onthant stood, he confirmed, "Alright, I'm on it."

* * *

It was a while until my twelfth birthday, a few months probably. Onthant decided to throw a small celebration as we had celebrated his birthday a little while before as well as Canto's. We had made a small cake for the occasion with a candle lit as we had the lights dimmed in our apartment.

As soon as I blew out the flame from the candle, my face was soon planted into the cake as Onthant shoved my head into it. Frosting and cake crumbs covered my face once I picked it up from the plate and turned to Onthant as he guffawed. I growled at him in anger and stood to confront him. Even though I had grown a bit since I met the two, I still was so short that it didn't even faze Onthant when I gripped the collar of his shirt and readied my fist to punch him. That, and he was too busy laughing at the event.

After a few punches were thrown by me to his stomach, he got over his laughing and started to fight back. He put me in a headlock and picked me up and off the ground as he still held me by the head. As I elbowed him in the stomach while he held me up, Canto was yelling at both of us to break it up. After I got myself pried out from Onthant's grip, Canto put some distance between us and yelled at us.

"Get to your room, ya idiots! Now I gotta clean up the cake on the carpet!"

Onthant and I glared at each other before we reluctantly stormed off to our shared room. Our room wasn't much. My bed was a hammock I made of a bed sheet that I nailed up in the corner of our room. Onthant had the same situation on the opposite side of the corner of the cloth nailed to each wall as our hammocks were diagonal to the corners we slept near. Other than the separation of beds, our room was a free-for-all as our possessions were intertwined with each other. It was a complete disaster thinking of it now. I had trouble just finding my other sock most days or even my comb. Because of this, Onthant and I were forced to often share almost everything. We probably would've shared the same clothes if our size difference wasn't so great. At this time, I was hardly to the shoulder of Onthant and I was still scrawny.

I went over to my bed and huffed as I wrapped myself inside the little hammock I had to myself. As I began to get comfortable, I snapped open my eyes as I flew out of my hammock and fell to the ground. I looked up to see Onthant as he looked at me while my hammock was above me, twisted upside down.

"Forgot to give you your birthday gift," Onthant said as he crouched down to the ground.

"What?" I was not happy.

"For the next three rotations, I will allow you to be slightly more annoying than usual."

As I closed my eyes halfway and looked at him, annoyed, I stated, "Wow...such a great gift. And thanks for throwing me out of bed too."

With a grin, he stated, "No problem, Blondie."

* * *

It was awhile after my birthday and it was market day; probably around forty rotations. We had always dedicated a certain day of every thirty rotations for us to go and set up a stand in the streets and sell whatever we had extra of in the shop. The table was always filled with old droid parts, some tools, and other odds and ends.

By this time, our repair shop had gotten busier so we needed more help. So, Canto hired a rodian named Strive who was about Onthant's age. Though I didn't see the exact intelligence in him, he got work done. He was pretty cool, though. Him and I got along quite well as well as him and Onthant. We three often played some games on break such as: Sabacc, Dejarik, and other things. He was a good comedic relief sometimes as he had a thousand oneliners ready to go.

This market day, Onthant and I were given the "privilege" of getting to go. I dreaded market day. I was not a fan of doing almost nothing productive for almost an entire day as I stood behind a table of junk until my feet went numb.

As Onthant and I stood behind the table of junk with Beepy by my side, I dozed in and out of sleep. My eyes snapped open after Onthant slightly shoved my shoulder as he stared daggers at me.

"Stay awake. You got enough sleep last night."

"No I didn't!" I complained. "Your snoring kept me up the entire night!"

"Well, keep awake anyways. We aren't paying you for nothing."

"You don't pay me anyway."

"Shut up."

I rolled my eyes and turned to the table. For some reason, I felt something was...off. I squinted my eyes at the table as a small rustle soon occurred. My suspicions led me to me slowly reaching towards the small rustle. I nearly jumped out of my skin a moment after.

A baby convor jumped out from the pile with half of the sandwich I had packed for myself that I thought was missing in its beak. It squawked and flew off with my lunch in its mouth down the streets of the Under City,

"Hey!" I complained before I ran after the bird. "That's my lunch!"

"Jalo, you idiot! Let it go!" Onthant could be heard yelling as he stayed by the table.

The small convor began to fly higher as it still flew faster with me on its tail. I looked ahead to see a canopy over the entry of a shop just ahead. As the bird flew just before the canopy, I jumped with surprising height and used the red fabric as a trampoline to grasp the brid.

I landed on the ground with one hand on the ground, the other holding the bird. The sandwich dropped to the ground and the bird squawked in my hand. As it began to peck at my hand, I let it go.

I waved my hand to alleviate the pain of the pecking, picked up my sandwich with my other hand, and took a well deserved bite out of it.

"Man, a kid can't even have a lunch down here…" I mumbled as I watched the convor fly away.

I had never seen a convor in the Under City before or since.

As I looked at the bird fly out of sight, I had been standing in the middle of the street. An arm was soon wrapped around my neck; at first, I thought it was Onthant.

I soon realized it wasn't him when the arm wouldn't let me have any air as he tightened his choke-hold on me. I never even got to see his face. How'd I know it was a he then? I could hear his voice as he turned me around as he held a blaster to my head with his other hand. He faced me to a cloaked figure whose face was hidden. One thing caught my mind as I looked to the shadowed figure in the cloak. A green sword that glowed was in that person's hand.

"Take one more step, I'll kill him!" my attacker shouted.

"Let him go," the owner of the glowing sword warned in such a calm voice. It was female.

" _Are you kidding me? How can you be so calm, lady?! I'm about to die here! Do something!"_ was the major thought I had in mind as I struggled for air.

"Let him go," the lady repeated, still calm.

I don't remember what the man that was choking me said after that; but I do remember dropping to my knees in relief once he let go of me. It was as if he flew backwards and let me go. At that point I didn't care how or why he let go of me, I was just glad I could breath. What I didn't see was that the reason he let of me was because he actually flew back with an immense force that was invisible to me.

When I glanced behind, I saw the lady with the green sword running after my attacker. My eye was caught by a cube left on the ground a little ways behind me and I stood up to go over and pick it I examined the strange cube; I saw it had symmetrical, wavy lines, on each side of an oblong circle in the center of each face on the cube. It had very little covering the blue interior and only had thin lines to block the view of the inside of the device and only a little metal on the corners. It was a light blue and the edges where of a copper like material. I stared at the cube with intrigue as I looked into it to see all the gears inside.

I turned when I heard a female voice shout behind me a few minutes later.

"Hey!"

It was the voice of the lady that had the glowing sword. Though, her sword was not seen by me at that time.

For some reason, I panicked. I jumped onto the canopy I had used before and jumped onto the roof of the building and I ran across the rooftops. I saw that the lady was chasing me from the ground. I ran in the direction of where I had left Onthant and Beepy at the table.

My sandwich? It was gone…

When I jumped over a gap between two buildings, I felt an unknown force drag me to the ground. I collapsed onto the ground beneath me.

The lady, whose face was still a mystery to me, came over to me and reached for the cube that was still in my hand. But, I wasn't giving it up without a fight.

I stood up and held the cube close to me as the woman grasped for it. I could tell she was doing her most to not hurt me, but she did want this cube really bad for some reason.

"Hey! Give that back, kid!" the woman shouted as she grasped for the cube.

"Get off me!" I yelled back.

"Hey! Get away from him!" I heard an all too familiar voice shout. It was Onthant. And he was mad.

I soon heard a yell and then a thump.I could no longer feel the woman reaching for the cube in my arms and I stepped away. A gasp was heard from my mouth as the woman laid on the ground where she once stood, unconscious. Onthant kneeled down to look at me better and looked over me, Beepy just a little behind him.

"Are you hurt?" he asked. I had never seen him so worried about me before as he looked over me for any injuries.`

"No."

"What happened?"

I told him of my little adventure. After I mentioned the fact the lady that now was unconscious wielded a glowing sword, his face showed worry.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

As he looked to the unconscious woman, he slowly said, "We are dead if she's what I think she is…"

"What? If she's what?"

"Hold on."

Onthant went over to the lady and knelled down next to her. I followed him. He carefully uncovered her face. I looked over to my adoptive brother to see he was taken aback by her face. But, not in a bad way. He looked at her with intrigue and a little bit mesmerized. I could see how he might have looked at her like that since she wasn't that bad looking, but he looked a little different at her than he would at any other pretty girl he'd see. He shook his head and looked to me and told me to look on her belt.

I did so and found the hilt of her glowing hands turned it over as I was perplexed at this cylinder. For some reason, my hands instinctively went to a button on the cylinder. When I pressed it, a hum split the air. I jumped as the green sword appeared in my hands. Onthant seemed even more worried as he said a swear word. For some reason, that sword was so natural in my hands. Though I had never seen one before, it was like I had been around it my whole life.

I looked over to Onthant and asked, "Do you know what it is?"

"We're dead...we are soooo dead."

I deactivated the sword and put it back on the woman's belt. My hands picked up the cube that I had snatched up before I displayed it to Onthant.

"I found this. I think it belongs to her."

"We are dead...So dead. Dad's going to kill us."

"Why?"

"She's a Jedi."

My eyes widened at the news. I had heard about Jedi before. Not much, but I had heard some small talk of them. At that time, they weren't such a big deal. The Jedi weren't in any wars, didn't cause any trouble for anyone, and no one really had been around them for a great amount of time. I only heard that they were "the protectors of the galaxy". Not much to talk about at the time. That, and I could hardly read at the time so I couldn't read about them. I did hear on the streets that they were sometimes warriors. Knights. But, I didn't think much of the Jedi.

"Let's get her back to the shop. See if we can help with healing her. The swelling is pretty bad where she got hit."

So, Onthant and I carried the Jedi; each of us under each of her arms. Onthant sent Beepy back to the stand, telling him to watch it so no one stole the stuff.

Now thinking of it, I did all of that for a sandwich. All of that. For a sandwich.

And I didn't even get to eat it.

* * *

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 **Forewarning: There may be large gaps in between the posting of chapters because I often forget about this, I'm busy, and I'm still writing this story.**

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	5. Chapter 4-Onthant can't flirt

After a while back at the shop, I didn't even think of that Jedi too much once I got to work after an hour or two. Canto was pretty mad at my adoptive brother and me for a minute, but he was willing to help us help the Jedi. Canto went to the stand every once and awhile to see how Beepy was holding down the fort, and came back incase the Jedi woke up. At the time, Onthant was in charge of watching over the female Jedi. Since Strive was on lunch break, he was talking to Onthant as they stood a little ways away from the Jedi who laid on the ground with a pillow made of some rags. We had put some bacta on her head and the swelling was starting to go down on the side of her head.

I was taken out of work mode once I heard a woman scream,a thump and crack, and Onthant yelled in pain. When I dashed over to see what was going on, I saw Onthant holding his nose in pain while the female Jedi was apologizing as she sat up. Strive was laughing as Onthant continued to hold his nose and moan in pain. I couldn't even help but to slightly chuckle at my older adoptive brother's pain.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I must've scared her or something!" Onthant said as he had a nasal voice as he covered his nose. "She punched me!"

I looked over to the female Jedi as she still apologized to Onthant, I stated with a smile, "I like you already."

"Shut it, you little nerf-herder," Onthant glared at me.

"I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," the female Jedi apologized. Getting a better look at her as her cloak was fully down, I could see she had brown hair that was braided. She had green eyes and was about eighteen years old. Then, as she realized her sword was gone, her voice got stern. "Where's my lightsaber?"

"Why were you attacking my little brother is what I'd like to know," Onthant looked over to the lady and had a harsh voice.

He had never referred to me as his little brother before.

"I was simply trying to retrieve my holocron back," the woman stated sternly.

"Hey, what's your name, lady?" Strive asked.

"I'm Cyla. Jedi Knight Cyla Dume."

We each greeted ourselves.

Canto then came up from behind us and saw that the Jedi was awake. He must've know that she was awake beforehand because he tossed her lightsaber at her.

"Thank you, sir," Cyla thanked as she looked to Canto. She began to stand until she abruptly stopped and let out a moan of pain as she gripped her head.

Onthant kneeled down next to the Jedi and gently held her shoulder, he said, "You got your head hit pretty bad. I wouldn't stand up too fast if I were you."

As she settled back down onto the ground, the Jedi said as she looked to me, "My holocron, do you have it?"

"What's a...holocron?" I cocked my head to the side as I asked her.

"The cube," Cyla explained. "It's a holocron. They store information for the Jedi."

"Go get it, kid," Canto looked to me. "We don't need trouble with any Jedi."

I scurried to find the cube I had fought for and looked to where I had put it by my workspace. My feet came to a halt when I saw that holocron faintly glow a light teal. I slowly stepped towards it until a was only a little ways away from it. The glowing cube mesmerized me as I stared into the glass to see the mechanics inside. Each piece working so smoothly and so complicated as it slowly turned. It nearly floated when I reached for it, just hardly a centimeter above the table. I scurried back to the group with the holocron in hand as it began to get warmer in my hands. No...cooler. No...warmer.

The female Jedi's eyes snapped in my direction when I approached her. She seemed perplexed as she saw the holocron glow in my hands. When I stretched my arm out with the holocron and held it in the palm of my hand, she slightly smiled with her eyes and looked to me.

"Did you do that?" she asked, almost delighted.

I got scared for a moment. Did I break it? Man! Canto's really going to kill me now!

"I- I didn't- it just started to glow and…" the words tripped and fumbled as they left my mouth.

"No. No. You're fine, kid," she seemed so amused as she smiled at me. "You didn't break it. It's supposed to do that. It opens to those strong with the Force."

"Like...you?" I slowly asked.

"Jalo, just give her the holocron. We don't need to get involved with Jedi," Canto said, his voice gruff.

"He's fine," Cyla assured as she looked to Canto. "I would actually like to talk to his parents for a second if I could. Are you his dad?"

As he crossed his arms over his chest, Canto stated, "The kid doesn't have 'em. We took him in a while back when he was eleven. He's twelve now. My son and I here take care of him."

"Wow, boss, I'm hurt," Strive joked. "What do I get credit for?"

WIth a harsh glare, he stated, "How 'bout when you do your job?"

"Then can I talk to you two for a moment; alone?" the female Jedi requested.

Onthant and Canto shared a glance and shrugged, agreeing. Cyla slowly began to sit up as she seemed light-headed. Onthant and I helped her up to her feet and she walked a few meters away with my adoptive brother and Canto where she stopped to talk to Strive's cautionary requests, I inched myself close enough to hear as I hid behind some speeder bike. Not much of the conversation was clear until Onthant's voice was heard.

"How can you be so sure that he's even got the 'Force'?"

"All living creatures have the Force. Some are just stronger with it than others. And that boy is one of them," I heard the female Jedi argue.

Then, I heard Canto's voice, "I don't want any involvement with Jedi. I'm not going to have you take this kid."

"Yeah, we're all he's got," Onthant said. "How'd you feel if you were taken away from your only family left?"

"I never knew my family," the Jedi's voice seemed so solemn. "Most Jedi are raised at the Temple from a very young age."

"Well, he has us," Onthant stated.

"It is very dangerous to have someone that is strong with the Force to be untrained. I am asking to at least get him tested to see if my suspicions are correct. That's all I'm asking."

A deep sigh made it's way from Canto. After a long pause, he asked, "How exactly would he be tested?"

"I'd take him to the surface where the Jedi Temple is and have his blood tested. You can even come to the surface if you'd like."

The surface? To a kid like me, the surface of Coruscant was only a thing to imagine. In my mind, have never left the lower levels of Coruscant, that place was like heaven on Coruscant. The place had rich people's houses, the bright light of the sun shining down on all the people above, skyscrapers. And the actual sky. I had never seen a sky at that point in my life. I had also heard that those living on the surface actually breathed clean and filtered air. That was absurd to a kid like me who was used to the toxic fumes of factories and vehicles. To me, all of it was like a myth.

When I was a kid, I had always dreamt of leaving the lower levels. To see the galaxy. To see new see the sky. To see natural light.

"I guess the least we can do is ask Jalo what he wants," Canto offered.

I scurried back to Strive once I realised they were coming to an agreement. But, I was still happy. I got the chance to see the surface!

I plopped myself down next to Strive as I waited next to him with my fingers twiddling with excitement. My face could hardly be straight as the Jedi, my brother, and Canto had approached me. Onthant was the one to tell me what I already knew and my facial expression was hard to keep from overjoyed.

"Yeah!" I answered with excitement.

"Hold on now," Onthant spoke calmly. "You do realize if you really do become a Jedi...you probably won't see me, Dad, or Strive ever again. You know that...right?"

My ecstatic feeling quickly drained as those words set into my mind. I had not thought of that; not seeing them again. Before I could speak, Cyla spoke.

"I can always request the Council allows him to see his family as he is so old and has a family."

Onthant and Canto shared a concerned glance with each other, pondering the idea. Canto let out a sigh as he turned to the green-eyed Jedi.

"Are you positive that he is strong with this 'Force'?"

As she turned back to him, Cyla answered, "I am sure. He wouldn't be able to make the holocron glow if otherwise. If he were to concentrate, he could open it."

"Wait, so I'm not going to be able to see my little buddy anymore?" Strive seemed so sad as he gestured to me.

"It's a good possibility that the Council will agree to him being able to see you all. It would be the wisest choice as we don't want to emotionally distress him," Cyla told. "We can leave now so we can have him tested, would any of you like to come along?"

"Well, we need to man our stand. I'll be out there," Canto gestured to outside. "And one of us needs to be here. Onthant, you take him. Strive, you stay here."

"Hold on," Onthant objected and looked to Cyla. "Your head got hit really hard and the bacta may be wearing off by now. Do you think you can even get in an elevator to get to the surface?"

Cyla was about to shake her head up and down, but she regretted it as soon as she did so. She moaned in pain and gripped her head where the bacta patch still was. Onthant put a hand on her shoulder as she still gripped her head.

"I guess I could at least take some rest before we leave," Cyla admitted.

"I'll go to the stand with R3," Canto stated and turned to me and Strive. "Don't burn the place down while I'm gone."

"Can't make any promises, boss," Strive joked.

As he glared at us, Canto stated, "I mean it."

When Canto was gone, Strive, Onthant, and I decided that Strive and I would finish up some jobs and Onthant volunteered himself to watch over Cyla as he didn't want her to be alone while injured. Cyla was one to disagree, saying that she is perfectly fine on her own. Onthant just assured that she needed someone to look after her incase her head injury was worse than what we thought.

Strive and I laughed at Onthant when he was picking up some heavy crates; an obvious show of his strength to the woman. Strive and I made fun of him even more when Onthant would stare off at her with a mystified look in his eyes and a stupid grin on his face. The Jedi seemed slightly amused, slightly chuckling at my adoptive brother's awkwardness. I could hardly breath as I was laughing so hard after Onthant actually spoke to the Jedi.

As he ran his hand through his hair and some sweat on his forehead, he stuttered, "Hey ,are you hot?"

Cyla squinted at the man with her green eyes.

"I-I know you're hot appearance wise...but...uh...are you hot? Warm? Like temperature wise?" Onthant could hardly speak.

He always had a thing for when he was nervous or stressed that he'd run his hand through his hair. I had noticed this during my first weeks of knowing him; often doing it when he was having trouble with a project.

The shop would get warm once and awhile as we didn't have good ventilation, but not enough to were I had seen Onthant so sweaty on his forehead and a bit on the palms of his hands. Yeah, this was one of the worse times for Onthant talking to a female.

"Don't worry," Cyla assured. "I'm alright."

As Strive was right by me he snickered a little with me and turned to the two, "Hey, Onthant! When's the wedding for you and Syla?"

"Shut it," Onthant glared at his friend.

"It's actually Cyla," the Jedi corrected. She paused,"But, that would be a beautiful name for a girl. I'll have to remember that for the Temple if we get any unnamed children."

"Why don't you save it for if you have a daughter?" I asked, confused.

"Jedi can't have attachments such as being married or having kids. It's forbidden."

"So, because ya got these powers that you were born with, ya can't live _life_ ?" Onthant asked, his eyebrows knitted together.

"It's against the Jedi Code to have attachments. There needs to be some type of guardians for this galaxy, we Jedi need to fulfil that role and follow the ancient rules of the Jedi."

"So, would Jalo be allowed to be around us if Jedi aren't supposed to have family?" Onthant inquired.

Sighing, Cyla answered, "By the Code, he shouldn't. But, I will request to be his Master if the Council does not allow him to see his family ; then I would often take him here for you to see your brother."

"We're not actually brothers," Onthant corrected.

As she raised an eyebrow, the Jedi said, "But, you two act as so. A person wouldn't protect someone like you had to just anyone. I can tell."

Through the rest of the time Canto was gone, it was still obvious on how Onthant was doing his best to show off to the Jedi. I didn't understand him; at first he seemed to be so weary of her since she had attacked me in his eyes, then he'd act like he was almost flirting with her. I guess it was a mix of whether to be mad at her and also thinking she was pretty. I didn't understand what the heck went through his mind during those years.

I remember that after a while, Strive, Onthant and I all had to put our heads together on a landspeeder that had it's hover system broken. Cyla must've seen our troubled faces because she offered to help us. Onthant had denied help, though I would've gladly taken help if it meant I didn't have to work on the landspeeder longer than I needed. Despite what Onthant said, Cyla slowly stood up and made her way over to us three. She knelled down between Strive and Onthant and I watched in amazement as she got to work with a swift pace. She turned to me and kindly requested if I could turn the landspeeder on for her and I did so.

My friend and my adoptive brother's shocked faces made me laugh as the landspeeder proved to work as it floated a little above the ground. The Jedi only slightly smiled at her accomplishment before she turned to Strive when he asked her:

"Where did ya learn to do that?"

"My old Master and I work in the Temple to fix broken holocrons as well as organizing the Jedi Archives . I picked up a few things on mechanics."

Not too much time passed before Canto arrived back with what little he had left over from the stand; my droid rolled beside him. At that time, I was near the Jedi as I played with the holocron; doing my best to float it in my hands. Cyla was doing her best to teach me to focus, but I didn't listen too well.

I snapped out of what little concentration I had when Canto shouted at me; "Stop it with that floating stuff."

"Why?" I whinned.

"It's unnatural."

"Actually," the female Jedi turned to Canto. "It's not unnatural at all. It is the Force, and he is fairly strong with it."

"Well, Force or not, I don't like it," Canto huffed before he went off.

As the green eyes of Strive turned to us, he asked, "Hey, so when are you taking him exactly?"

To my shock, Cyla didn't reply in Basic. Instead, she replied in a language I didn't understand a word of. I had heard it being exchanged among rodians around the Under City, so I quickly inferred she was talking in Rodinesse. Him and her had a lengthy conversation in this strange language to me and Onthant and I exchanged confused looks as he didn't understand that language either.

Neither of us had ever even heard Strive really talk in his native language; only hearing a word or two under his breath or when he didn't want to curse around me.

Turning to Onthant, Strive broke his string of his native language and asked in Basic, "Hey, do you think you could go up on the surface with the kid? I'm pretty sure I can handle the shop all by myself."

"Yeah…" Onthant seemed suspicious as he slowly answered and narrowed his eyes at Strive and Cyla.

"I'll go pack!" I soon left with excitement to go and pack some things.I had kept some clean clothes at the shop and my bag incase I had ever gotten my work clothes too dirty to even walk home in. Or catch them on fire. It happened before.

As I went over to get a bag I owned and put some of my possessions in it, I could see Onthant pull Strive aside from the Jedi for a private word. As I hid myself behind some crates and such and changed into some nicer clothes, I did my best to listen to the two's conversation.

I could hear Onthant asking about what Strive had said to the Jedi. Strive told that Cyla had asked why Canto was so imprudent and if Canto wasn't my actual father, who was. I saw Onthant almost got aggressive with Strive when he mentioned the fact that Cyla asked who was Onthant's mom and what happened to her.

I knew never to ask about Onthant's mother, and he knew never to ask who my parents were. When he first had asked about my parents, I just told him that I'd never talk about them. When I asked about his mother, he didn't want to talk about her either. We shared that feeling so we both respected it.

When Onthant and Strive went back over to the female Jedi, I soon finished up packing a few possessions and I joined them.

* * *

 **Hey, everyone. Sorry I didn't update for a while. I've been really busy with Marching Band, Tennis, and school**. **I'm trying my best to write this story one chapter at a time between all the things going on in my life (And a tree that just recently fell on my house sure isn't helping anything).**

 **Please write reviews; they are basically the thing that encourages me to write and also reminds me that people are actually reading this.**

 **Thanks!**


	6. Chapter 5- I see sunlight

When I reached the top layer of Coruscant with my adoptive brother and Cyla, I was astonished by the sights that filled my eyes. The air I breathed was so clean that I was near confused when I breathed in. Streams of hover cars flew across the sky and the sun nearly blinded me as it reflected so much from these new cars and nice buildings. As Cyla was used to these sights obviously, she was amused about how I was so baffled by it.

Onthant constantly had to grab me by the scruff of my neck to have me keep up with them as I looked in wonder all around me. I can't imagine how stupid I looked to the people that passed us on the walkways as I was so mystified by the sights. Especially me craning my neck as I looked up at the sky. I probably looked like a total fool when I nearly fell over as I looked into the sky because I had lost my balance looking at something so big that was above me.

I had actually brought a holo-camera to capture the sights if I weren't to ever come back to the surface. I got a few photos of the sights and the sky before Onthant would haul me away moments later. He had gotten so sick of this that he just decided to carry me instead. Since I was so small, no bigger than what an eight-year-old should be, he had me sit on his shoulders as I continued to take in the view.

The green-eyed Jedi laughed slightly as she smiled at the both of us, looking so peculiar compared to the rest of the Surface layer people. I took a photo of her and then held my arms out in front of me and just above Onthant to take a photo of us both before I put my holo-camera away in my bag on my back.

"Ok, how far do I have to carry this rat until we get there?" Onthant asked as he turned to the Jedi.

"Hey! I'm not a rat!" I complained.

"Not too much farther," the Jedi assured as she smiled at Onthant. "And it's not too nice for you to call your little brother a rat."

"Yeah! I might become a Jedi, bro," I gloated.

"Call me 'bro', again, I'll break your arm," Onthant growled.

In retaliation, I pulled some of his short hair on top of his head. He let out a yelp of pain and was about to throw me to the ground when Cyla shot a death-glare. It was kinda like what Canto would look like, but her look was a little more...I don't know how to explain it.

When Canto was to warn us with a look, I'd get the feeling that I'd get a beating with a belt. With Cyla, it was more of a look that made me feel like I was going to be punished in a non-beating like the way that somehow would be the same effect of torture.

We both quieted down and Onthant slumped his shoulders as he seemed so fit on getting to beat me up again. I climbed off his shoulders and walked beside him from that point on, but he still had a grip on my arm in case I was to try to wander off again.

When I caught sight of this Jedi Temple, I didn't know what to think of it. It was huge, to be frank. It was a large rectangular building with the walls slightly inclining inwards until they plateaued at the flat roof. There were four tall cylinders, one on each corner and a larger cylinder in the center of the building. Wedges of an additional building were on each face of the large structure.

Cyla led us up to a flight of stairs. There were two tall statues overlooking us as we walked towards the Temple. The statues both had cloaks and they each had the sleeves of their cloaks come together as they each held their hands together in front of their torso. Their cloaks were similar to the one Cyla wore. I wondered if all of the Jedi wore cloaks like that.

As we reached the top of the steps, two figures in full white armor approached us as ignited their yellow swords. Their swords were different. They had two blades, one on each end. They wore a white mask over their face that was in the shape of an oval; two rectangle slits cut out of the face for the eyes. Gold markings decorated their masks and a white hood casted a shadow on their faces. They wore robes also similar to Cyla's, but they were beige and they had wider shoulders and a brown belt was tied around their waists. But, Cyla had the color of rusty brown for her robes, her cloak a dark brown as well as her boots, and her pants were beige.

Onthant was quick to push me behind him as he had a worried yet serious tone of voice, "Hey! Hey! What's the big idea?"

As she put a hand on Onthant's upper chest, almost his shoulder, Cyla assured, "It's alright. These are the Temple guards." Cyla turned to the two guards and said, "I've come with a child I believe is Force-sensitive to be tested by the Jedi High Council."

"The child may enter," the one guard spoke. The two guards turned ninety degrees so we could pass as they faced each other as they kept their lightsabers ignited. Cyla then I walked past them, but as soon as Onthant followed, the guards turned to him and put their lightsabers up. Cyla and I turned to them.

"You may not," the one guard said as they kept Onthant away.

As she let out a deep sigh, Cyla said to Onthant, "I cannot be permitted to bring in a personnel that does not belong to the Order. This is a sacred place for us Jedi."

"Then I don't want to go!" I protested. "I want him with me!"

"Jalo," Onthant began. "You'll be fine. Just stay close to Cyla."

"But-" I began to protest. It was cut short as Onthant interrupted me.

"But nothing. I'll wait outside for you."

I wanted to complain. I wanted to throw a fit. No way this strange lady I just met was about to take me to a strange place without my adoptive brother.

"Go," Onthant assured as he nodded. "You'll be fine, Blondie."

"Will you be ok with waiting out here?" Cyla asked.

"Yeah. Just take care of him."

She replied with an assuring nod.

I looked at Onthant for a moment; as if that was going to change the situation. After the moment passed, I looked to Cyla. She placed her gloved hand on my shoulder and we turned to walk into the large building.

The building was so huge, I nearly clung to Cyla as I felt I was going to get lost. The halls were large and very ornate. They didn't seem new; more like ancient and yet well kept. As it was so long ago, and there were so many things to take in, I don't really know how long I walked until a female nautolan approached us.

She was probably about fifty some years old and was little taller than Cyla. She also wore the same robes Cyla wore, but hers were all a dark brown and he had no cloak. A lightsaber dangled off the side of her belt that wrapped around his waist. Her eyes were a solid dark brown, but they seemed so kind as she looked to me and Cyla.

"My old Padawan, it is nice to see you have returned safely," she seemed to get concerned as she got a better look at Cyla. "What happened to your head?"

I looked up to the human and saw that she did have a large bruise starting to form on her head. I had not noticed it before, but now I wondered how I had not noticed how hurt she had gotten. The young, female Jedi seemed so unbothered by it; as if it was merely a small scratch and not a large bruise on her head.

"I am fine, Master Tanza Fontuca," the Jedi assured. "It was just a skirmish I got into while I retrieved my Holocron from some thief."

"Who is this child? A Youngling from another Temple?" the nautolan asked as she turned to me.

"I found him in the Underworld," Cyla told. "I believe he is Force-sensitive."

"Have you had his midi-chlorian count checked?"

"That's where we're heading to."

"What's that?" I questioned, my eyebrows knitting together.

"They are basically tiny organisms that live in our blood. They allow us to communicate with the Force. Every living thing has them; but the more you have, the stronger you are with the Force," Tanza told.

With a shiver running down my spine, I asked, "So...they live inside me?"

Nodding, Cyla assured, "Yes. They are what makes life possible. It isn't something to be grossed out about."

"If you believe the child is Force sensitive we should get him tested soon," the nautolan looked to Cyla. "I'll take you to the med bay."

I soon found myself in this weird looking room with a bunch of medical beds and crazy technology. The place wasn't nearly as bright as the rest of the Jedi Temple as it was pretty dim in there. I stared at a couple large tubes filled with clear liquid with tubes attached to it and a few lone bubbles rose to the surface here and there.

I looked away when I heard a lady talk.

"Alright, I found one," the doctor of the place said.

I was introduced to her as her name Doctor Rig Nema. She was humanoid, had green skin, gold irises in her eyes, and a gray crown around her head. I wasn't sure what species she was as I couldn't identify it. She held a little hand-sized rectangle that I didn't know how it worked.

I sat on the end of one of the beds and she approached me with the device in her hand. Tanza and Cyla stood by my side as I sat there. The doctor removed a little chip from the box that had a needle on the end. As I saw the metal of the needle glint in the light, I freaked and scrambled away on the bed and my eyes widened.

"A needle?! You didn't say anything about a needle, lady!" I yelled as I distanced myself from the doctor.

"Woah, kid! You're ok!" Cyla did her best to calm me down as I began to panic at the sight of the needle. "You're ok."

"Hey, hey, kid," Tanza soon put her hand on my shoulder. For some reason, as soon as her hand came in contact with me, I felt a little calmer. As if a blanket was placed over my shoulders. "It's alright. It's only going to prick your skin. Hardly draw much blood."

"It's still a needle!"

"I know, but it's not going to hurt you. Have you ever been bitten by an animal?"

I nodded, "A baby convor just this morning."

"And did it hurt you?" she asked.

"Not that badly…"

"This will be even less pain than that baby convor," Tanza assured. "Just don't look at it."

I nodded as I bit my lip.

"Just look at me and just talk," Cyla said. "You won't even know when she puts the needle in you."

I looked over to the female Jedi and I could feel the doctor take my arm in her hand. I couldn't even open my mouth to talk before I felt the needle go into my arm. I yelped and the doctor took the needle and put it into the box.

"Oww…" I rubbed my arm.

"See? All done," Tanza assured.

" I swear, we should just issue these midichlorian testers to every Jedi so if someone finds a Force-sensitive child off Coruscant," the doctor said. She soon went over to a desk with many screens and Tanza and Cyla followed her, and then me.

The doctor seemed wide-eyed as she looked over a data pad and turned to Cyla, "Where exactly did you find the boy?"

"The Underworld," Cyla answered.

"These readings are fairly high. His count is about 12,000," the doctor turned to Tanza. "Higher than the average 10,000 for most Jedi."

"I'll go request a meeting with the Council, see what we can do since he is older than the age we usually admit Younglings into the Order," Tanza said and looked to me. "How old are you?"

"I just turned twelve."

The nautolan looked concerned as she shared a glance with Cyla and the doctor. I didn't understand why though. How young was the average kid in this religion? Would they really trust a kid younger than me with a laser sword? You would think I was young enough; I wasn't even a teenager yet. So...why was I so old to them even though I was twelve?

"Watch over the child for now; I'll go see if the Council could make a decision on this."

The green-eyed human nodded to her before she left the room. I looked at Cyla as I knitted my eyebrows together, wondering why I could tell that she was concerned as well as that nautolan that had just left.

While the Jedi watched over me, the doctor had left as she said that she needed to eat lunch; leaving me completely in the care of Cyla. I got fairly bored and hung off a medical bed as the bottom half of me kept me on the bed while Cyla sat in a chair and seemed so content. I couldn't understand how in the universe she couldn't be bored. I wondered what was going through her mind that kept her from boredom.

As the silence in the room finally drove me to complete boredom, I spoke to the Jedi.

"Hey, how do you know that lady that brought you here with me? That nautolan?" I inquired.

"Master Fontuca? She was my Jedi Master when I was a Padawan learner," Cyla looked to me.

"So a 'Master' is like a teacher?"

"Yes, and a Padawan is the student learning to become a Jedi. The bond between a Padawan and Master is very strong and builds with time."

"Does someone assign you to your Master?"

"Mostly, yes. But, often times a Master and Padawan often meet by fate," Cyla explained. "I was assigned to my Master when I was about thirteen."

"Are you going to be my Master?

"I don't know. But, I am hoping so and so is your brother so you may be allowed to see your brother and Canto sometimes."

As I shrugged, I commented, "Well, I know why he wants you to be my Master if you'll be around."

"Why?" Cyla tilted her head in confusion.

"Because he thinks you're hot," I answered simply.

"He said that, did he?" Cyla seemed amused at this news as she smiled.

"He didn't need to. I know how he looks at all the hot babes by his eyes. And he looks at you like that alright."

Cyla laughed a little as I told her this news. I was surprised that she hadn't figured this out on her own as Onthant's affection was obvious to me. He always would try to like a big, tough, and manly man whenever he saw any girl he found attractive; but end up being nervous on his lesser great days. He had done so since I knew him.

I continued to tell her about the signs of Onthant harboring feelings for her as she seemed to enjoy everything I spilled about this subject. We talked for a good ten minutes before the Jedi called Master Tanza entered the room. He didn't seem to have even noticed any content of our conversation as he immediately stated that the Council wanted to evaluate me as soon as possible.

When I was told I would meet with this "Council" I wasn't too sure what to think of them. Based off of what the two Jedi I had met had mentioned about this Council, I guessed that they were some kind of group that decided what went on in the Jedi community. Kinda seemed stupid to me, having a group or religion telling you what you could and couldn't do with your life.

If I hadn't felt conflicted before on being a Jedi or not, this was the point where I was teetering between the two choices as the eyes of the Council studied over me as one man held a tablet in his hand and asked me what was on the screen as the screen still faced him. He was bald, probably about forty-something, had dark skin, and a scowl of skepticism on his face. His name was Master Mace Windu. The group that sat in a circle around me seemed to study me so intensely; I felt uncomfortable as I stood there in front of all of them. The room I was standing in the middle of was in the shape of a circle and was very high up compared to the surface of the planet. Sunlight from the sun poured into the room as the walls were made of windows; the view of passing traffic in the sky visible just beyond the building as the traffic interwove between other of the twelve Masters sat in a chair around the room as they all stared at me.

I wanted Onthant at this moment; for him to be by my side. I felt like a little child for wanting my big brother to hold me by his side. But, he was the only thing in the galaxy at that time that really made me feel confident, safe even. I had always been used to being a scrawny kid that anyone could push around despite my retaliation. Onthant was the only thing that stood between me and anything trying to hurt me.

"A...uh…" I struggled as I wanted to spit out the name of the item on the screen pointed away from my view. It called out its name to me...but it wasn't coming out of my mouth. I knew what it was, I just didn't know how to say it. "It's big...A ship?"

He confirmed that I was correct with a nod and changed the image.

"A bowl?" I asked, unsure of myself. As I saw the Master's eyes, I could tell I was wrong. "A cup?"

The man gave a confirming nod to signal I was right and changed the photo on the screen again. I bit my lip as I struggled to name the next image. A green man looked to me as he seemed to contemplate something. He was short, green, had pointy ears, and seemed to be well over a hundred years old. Little did I know, he was almost nine-hundred years old and his name was Master Yoda. He placed his hand on his chin as he seemed skeptical of me, but not in a bad way.

"Nervous you are, child," he spoke. "See clearly you will if you quiet your mind."

"Your thoughts...they dwell on someone," a woman spoke as she leaned forward. I later learned her name was Depa Billaba. She seemed to be very nice, I could just sense it. "Your brother, perhaps?"

"I miss him," I admitted.

"Scared to lose him you are," Yoda said.

As I shook my head in disagreement, I said, "No I'm not. I'm not a baby."

A man, whose name I learned later to be Master Tieren Nie-Tan, looked to the short green man, "He seems to be a bit old to be trained. Most Younglings start training at a much younger age."

"How old are you, child?" a togruta woman asked as she looked to me. I learned later that she was Master Shaak Ti.

"I am twelve."

The group of Masters seemed wide-eyed at this news and they began to argue amongst themselves over whether or not I should be allowed to enter the Order as I was so old. I barely remember much of the conversation as there were so many words filling the room at once.

"He is much too old to join the Order!" a male Iktotchi argued, his name was Master Saesee Tiin.

"We cannot let a child with as much connection to the Force be untrained. It is very dangerous for him and those around him," Master Billaba retaliated.

"Most training of Younglings start much younger than the age of twelve, though," Master Adi Gallia protested.

The disputed on this subject lasted a little while longer as I stood in the middle of all of it. I soon interrupted them all as I spoke over the voices.

"I'm fine with not joining," I announced. "I-I don't want to leave my brother."

As the Council quieted down, they all looked back at me. Master Windu was first to ask me a question.

"You mentioned only your brother; what about your parents?" he inquired. "Do you have any?"

I kept quiet as I didn't really want to answer that.

"What is your full name?" Master Plo Koon questioned.

As I let out a sigh through my nose, I admitted, "Jalo Hikra."

Master Shaak Ti leaned forward, asking, "Are you Razo Hikra's son? The co-leader of Black Heth?"

My ager spiked as I let out a shaky breath and clenched my fist at that name. "I don't want to talk about him. He's not my dad anymore," I growled.

"Much anger have you," Master Yoda commented. "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Much suffering will occur in your life if you hold so much hate within you."

Little did I know how right Master Yoda was. And how much I wish that I had listened to his advice.

"I don't care!" I snapped. "I just want to go home with my family."

"I heard that Razo had one son and one daughter; I never heard of him having a second son. Who is this brother you have referred to?" Master Shaak Ti asked.

"I was adopted, ok?" I admitted. "By Canto and Onthant Solarburn. They took me in a while ago."

The Council looked amongst themselves before Master Windu said anymore after a long pause of silence.

"You are dismissed."


	7. Chapter 6- I get a Jedi Master

When Master Yoda had requested to talk to Cyla for a moment, I was more than eager to listen in as I sat outside a door while they talked. Though, I don't think me listening through the door the entire time she and Master Yoda talked was her intent when she sat me outside of the door and told me to wait. When she first told me to sit outside of the door, I had complained; saying that I wanted to listen. Her response was a stern stare and I sat on the ground before she left me outside. Little did I know, this was going to become a common situation for me.

As my ear was pressed against the door, I could hear Master Yoda say in a huff, "Strong in the Force the boy is, but allow him into the Order I do not."

I could head Master Yoda pace the marble floor; the tapping of his feet, as well as the small thump of his cane, hitting the ground as Cyla replied.

"I will train him outside of the Temple then. He needs to be trained. It would be dangerous for him to have his powers uncontrolled."

I swear I could almost hear Master Yoda shake his head in disapproval after Cyla spoke once more.

"With or without the Council's approval," she told.

"Sense defiance in you I do, Dume," Yoda huffed. "Quite the opposite of your Master you are."

"The boy needs training. He's too powerful within the Force to just be left in the Underworld," Cyla pointed out.

As he let out a sigh, he admitted, "Training, the boy may need. Train the boy you may, but too old he is to join the Order."

"He can be trained in an unorthodox way and still have the full capabilities of any typical Jedi, despite being so old. If I remember right, I was about seven when Master Tanza found me as a slave on Jakku."

"Trained the boy will be by you outside of the Temple. But, report back to the Temple every day you must for your duties at the Holocron Vault need to be done."

"I will be glad to do so," said the female Jedi.

My ear nearly went numb as I pressed my head up against the door a little harder as I heard nothing. Soon, I fell flat on my face as the door in front of me seemed to disappear. I saw brown boots in front of my face and I looked up to see Cyla looking down at me, hands on her hips.

As he shook his head, the green Jedi Master mumbled, "Much work needed there is."

Cyla soon brought me along with her to talk with the older nautolan that we had talked to previously; telling her of all that the short green man told her. I held onto her sleeve as I stood there, not wanting to get lost in the Temple; probably looking like a small child clinging to their guardian as I did so.

"You training the boy may be dangerous, Cyla. You had only graduated into Jedi Knighthood meer weeks ago," Tanza opined.

"I think I will be fine, Master," she assured.

"How will you be able to return every night after training the boy?" Tanza inquired. "And keep up with your duties in maintaining the Jedi Archives?"

She assured, "I will be fine, Master. Besides, not too much happens in those Archives anyways."

As she let out a deep sigh, Tanza said, "Alright. But, I can always help with your workload as training a Padawan is a very tiring experience."

"Thank you."

"Let's get you back to your family," the nautolan looked to me. She and Cyla soon led me back to the entrance that Cyla and I had left Onthant at. Tanza stayed inside the Temple as Cyla assured that she'd take me and my brother back to the Underworld, train me for a little bit, and then head back to the Temple.

When the young female Jedi and I approached Onthant, she told the news of her being my Jedi Master and that she'd train me back at our place. He seemed pretty good at accepting this news and we headed back to the Underworld.

Going back to the shop, we had to take a hovertrain as it was a pretty far trek if we were to have walked the entire way. So, we used the Elcor Station like we had when we were heading to the Jedi Temple. The Elcor Station is a pretty rough place; muggers were in abundance and I could bet you twenty credits that there were at least two drunk people there at any point that you'd walk through it. Black Heth was infamous there to terrorize those who passed through. Having a Jedi by our side, I felt a little safer. Plus the fact Onthant was a pretty tall dude who looked like he could kill you in one punch made me feel even safer.

Cyla and Onthant both had one hand on the pole that was for stability for those standing while I sat in a seat that was just behind the two. Hovertrains weren't very luxurious nor sanitary as the car's interior were a disgusting green from the lack of paint and the seats smelled. But, it was all I had ever known. We had already shown our passes when we had first boarded. The train had plenty of people packed inside of all different species. I had sat next to a twi'lek woman holding her child who was no older than a toddler in her lap.

The child babbled as she waved at me. I smiled and waved back to her and her small hands grabbed my hand. I looked to her mother for assistance as I was scared I had passed a line and became too intrusive, but she just smiled and said,

"Sorry. She's a grabber."

She didn't speak in Basic, though, as she was obviously from Ryloth and said that in Twi'leki. As I figured she couldn't understand Basic, I spoke back in Twi'leki.

"It's alright; but may I please have my hand back?"

Onthant looked back at me as he squinted his eyes, he asked in a surprised voice, "Since when did you speak another language?"

"Oh, shut up," I retaliated in Basic. "I'm not stupid."

"Well, I'm surprised you can speak another language since you can't even read the language you're speaking and you're twelve," Onthant said.

Cyla was immediately intrigued, "He can't read?"

"No. And the idiot refuses me to let me teach him," Onthant told.

"I'm not an idiot!" I snapped in Basic.

The train came to a stop and I wriggled my hand out from the grasp of the small toddler and departed the train as I followed my new Jedi Master and my adoptive brother. As we stepped into the Elcor Station I immediately felt like there was something off. I wasn't sure what, though.

It felt like deja vu as I continued to feel this sensation and it seemed to increase as I walked further into the station. I stopped as others continued to pass by me and pondered this sensation. I didn't understand why it was so familiar. Why it felt like something I just knew. Not since before I met Canto and Onthant had I felt it. Without thinking of the fact that Onthant and Cyla were now well out my sight nor considering the fact that this was a dangerous place for a little kid like myself, I took off in another direction than what led me back me home.

I followed this sensation I felt in the back of my head. It got stronger and stronger as I neared a building that was once the ticket booth for the train station. Reduced to nothing but a rat-infested shed. A few apartment buildings were just a couple meters behind and beside it. I slowed down as my eyes scanned the area, looking for what I could tell was there but I couldn't see.

Then I stopped and looked sharply to my right. There I could see a man in his mid-forties with speckles of black in his grey irises. His hair was black except for one stripe of white on the side of his head that was the same color of his goatee. He had freckles all over his face as he stared at me with an expression of a madman who somehow managed to have curiosity in his eyes. As he leaned against a tarnished wall and only had a gray light shine on him, he looked like some kind of apparition.

I wondered if he really was.

"Hey, son," his voice sounded so cold. His eyes looked venomous like a snake's and just as unforgiving. "Long time no see."

I stood there for a moment; confused on what I should say. Panic filled me and I ran. My shoes pounded the pavement as I ran back through the Elcor Station and right into my adoptive brother. He was fairly puzzled by my sudden appearance as he tells that he and Cyla had been calling for me through the station. "Worried sick." Cyla uses those words as if she were a mother talking to a small child who she had just been separated from.

The next few weeks were fairly informative to me as Cyla taught me the best she could of the Jedi and the Force. When she attempted to teach me to read, I nearly had a mental breakdown of tears. The words didn't make sense to me. I didn't understand why some letters looked just like others and yet they were completely different. My brain didn't want to work with me and it sure didn't want to work with made me even more infuriated with learning reading is that I couldn't even see the difference between some letters or what they sounded like. It was like I hit a brick wall just as I thought I had just accomplished something.I wanted to cry as I felt like I was too stupid to read what a toddler could. My brain felt like it was short-circuiting like a droid with a few loose wires when I scanned my eyes over the words. I was thankful my new Master was so patient and kind despite my inability to learn to read anything more than a few simple words. With me having to take in all this knowledge so quickly, I couldn't get my work done like I used to. Canto wasn't pleased with this and he began to argue with Cyla about my teachings taking up so much of the time I was supposed to work. Cyla would often oppose his opinion; making things tense with anger between the two. Onthant saw this and offered to take up some of my workloads as he supported the fact I needed to be trained if I was to become a Jedi. Begrudgingly, Canto accepted this.

I loved everything Cyla taught me about the Jedi. The history, the Force, the Masters, and the battles fought thousands of years ago against the "Sith". The only thing I didn't like the entire Jedi thing is meditation. I mastered that as well as I had with reading. My brain just didn't accept it. My brain didn't want to slow down. It didn't want to be quiet so I could focus. I wanted to, though. My brain just didn't want to. I had always had that problem ever since I was little. I never was able to quiet my mind even if I tried my best. I couldn't ever focus on something unless I was coerced to listen by curiosity or it involved me fixing something. But, those few times I would get bored with something I was supposed to be doing, Canto would get really mad at me. I couldn't help it, though, as my brain just seemed to want to wander. That's why I liked to fix things so much that had so many problems. If I got bored with one thing wrong with the droid or speeder bike, I'd look and find another problem and fix that instead. Then after going through things that needed fixing, I'd eventually get the entire thing Cyla was teaching me to levitate small objects with the Force, I slightly succeeded better in that than in other things she taught me. I could shakily lift a cup or a wrench if I focused really hard. Even in this category, I got frustrated as I saw Cyla doing it with such ease. She could lift a wrench with the Force so gracefully, it was like she was picking it up with an invisible hand. Lightsaber training was my favorite. For the first few lessons, she just had me learn the basic blocks with a broomstick. I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Cyla was plain out exhausted during the beginnings of my training. And it was no surprise. Having to go back and forth from the Under City to the Jedi Temple to help organize their library, she had no rest really. This weighed on me greatly as I felt it was my fault for her sleep deprivation as I made her job of teaching me such an arduous task. Everyone in the shop could tell she was enervated she was with the bags under her eyes and the yawns being so constant. But, she refused to let that get in the way of teaching me the best she could.

One day, Onthant decided to take this as an opportunity to offer my Master to go eat with him. Being the clueless age of twelve, I volunteered to tag along eagerly. Strive did too. I could see the vexation fill my adoptive brother's face as Cyla accepted this and we all headed out to eat. We decided to just go to a local noodle shop owned by a quarren named Lauli Wahlo. He was weird to me. His right eye was not there anymore as a blue cybernetic eye was in its place with a scar all along the right side of his orange face. He wasn't very good with people, but he did make some good food. When we got our food, that had a taste I no longer remember, I remember fooling around like a little kid with Strive. He was always like a friend to me, almost brother, that I could joke around with. He and I somehow just managed to act like kids whenever we were around each other. Sure, Onthant was a pretty cool guy and brother, but I looked up to him like he was a...well...parent. He, Cyla, and Canto were the closest people I had ever had to a real parent. Strive was the guy I would spin around on a swivel chair with to see which one of us could get dizzy first. We would even tease Onthant about his "crush" on Cyla. When we did this while eating our noodles, Onthant was fairly irked as Cyla was right there.

As he nudged my arm with his elbow, Strive looked to me as he slightly nodded his head to Cyla and Onthant who were talking to each other. I noticed Cyla had her fingers intertwined as she rested her chin on them while her elbows propped her up as they sat on the counted as she gazed back at Onthant. Cyla sat between Strive and Onthant, so I only saw the back of her head, but I can imagine she was smiling at him. Onthant had his full attention on my Master as he didn't bat his eye away when she talked with a small smile on his face.

"And did I notice a stubble? Oh, my Force he was growing out his facial hair…" I thought to myself "What's next? A ponytail to impress her?"

"So, would you two say that this is a successful date for you both?" Strive inquired with a snicker.

"Shut it, Strive…" Onthant glared at the rodian.

"Hey buddy, that's my Jedi Master you're flirtin' with," I joked with a smile.

Trying to get off the subject, Onthant turned to Cyla, "That reminds me. How is Jalo's training going?"

"Well, I think he should show you for himself," Cyla looked to me and I understand the simple queue she was implying.

I looked back to my bowl of noodles and closed my eyes as I put my hand in front of me. I cleared my mind and focused just on the bowl and only that bowl. I called upon the power of the Force to lift the bowl slowly into the air. After a moment, I could feel the bowl becoming harder and harder to focus on as it began to slip. I could hear it clatter onto the tabletop and I snapped open my eyes.

My blood boiled as Onthant and Strive laughed. I don't remember what I snapped at them, but I remember I was infuriated at them both for making fun of me by laughing. I remember Cyla sternly warning me to keep a cool head as I was so mad.

"Padawan Hikra!" she harshly snapped. "That is no way for a Jedi to act."

"But-"

"You are to not get so upset over such little things as long as you are my Padawan. Anger is the path to the Dark side and I will not tolerate it from you."

"Hey, hey, hey! What's going on here?" We turned to the shop's owner who was fairly irritated. "Did you just say you were a Jedi?"

"Well, yes-" Cyla's calm repose was quickly cut off.

"I don't want no trouble with any Jedi. Leave!" the man harshly snapped as he slammed his hands on the countertop.

"Hey! That's no way-" I was interrupted.

"Then so be it," Cyla calmly spoke and shot me a look that told me to shut up before she looked back to Lauli. "We will leave." and she stood as well as Onthant and Strive after the two shared a concerned glance.

I begrudgingly followed my family back down the streets of the Underworld. I caught up to Cyla, asking why in the universe someone would kick someone out for being a Jedi.

"Doesn't he realize Jedi are the protectors of the universe? I say he should be grateful for having a Jedi customer!" I ranted

"People may feel as if the Jedi are not the protectors that have been told in history and stories. They may see the Jedi as nothing more than trouble for their powers and strong connection with the Force. Though people may not realize how much the Jedi to protect the people, we do a lot in this universe to protect those in need. People may never appreciate something until it's gone."


	8. Chapter 7- I get in a bar fight

A year. Almost an entire year passed with Cyla as my Jedi Master. It seemed to have flown by. It was so long ago that most of them are no more than a blur with a few memories that I faintly remember. By this point, I no longer had such long bangs on my face. Onthant and Cyla decided to give me a haircut as I clenched Strive's hand tightly and gritted my teeth as Onthant and Cyla trimmed my hair so I could actually see. Canto and Beepy thought it would be funny to take a video of this as they stood by and watched me nearly cry as I was so afraid of scissors. Cyla actually made the comment:

"You have freckles? Since when?" she asked with a smile when she cut away my bangs. "And blue eyes? How little do I know about you, my Padawan? They look just like Onthant's."

"Yeah," Onthant looked at me as he let out a half of a chuckle. "He does have pretty similar eyes."

Over this time, I also got a Padawan braid as I grew it on the side of my head. This was like gold for Onthant and Strive to have for making fun of me. They often called it girly and Cyla would always remind me to not let comments get to me and to keep a cool head.

Speaking of Cyla, she had really grown as a part of the family. Thinking of it, our family really needed her. Having a woman finally in the family really showed us how sloppy we were. She often scorned any of us who left out a dirty dish and tasked us each with cleaning around the shop. She also had us brushing our teeth, showering, and other things that I thought weren't necessary. She was good friends with Strive as he could make friends with many fairly easily, she was now on okay terms with Canto, would somewhat play into Onthant's flirting, and was almost like the motherly figure I never had before in my life. When Cyla asked when in the galaxy Onthant was shaving off his beard, he responded with a smart remark as usual.

"What? You don't think it's sexy?" he joked as he looked to my Master and rubbed his hand through his now full grown beard. "Quite dashing, isn't?"

"I will shave it off with my lightsaber if you keep referring it to as 'sexy', Onthant! " I shouted.

"Jalo!" Cyla snapped.

And for that matter, I got a lightsaber. Cyla decided I was ready to get a lightsaber quite a few months into my training and sent me to the planet of Ilum with a group of other Jedi Padawans to retrieve a crystal. The other Padawans were all younger than me as they had been entered into the Order when they were very young. My lightsaber crystal was green just like Cyla's and I built the hilt fairly successfully and with my own style as soon as I returned back to my home with my crystal in hand. It wasn't the prettiest, but I liked it and it worked just as well as Cyla's lightsaber.

But despite all this, I still resented the Order. Seeing how all those younger kids had so much training and had so much access to knowledge and education made me angry. Why couldn't I have that? Why was I such an outcast that I didn't belong in their precious Temple? Why did they have to exhaust Cyla so much by her traveling back and forth every day just because I was a little too old to train? Wouldn't it have been more useful for me to be trained in the Temple so I could learn quicker? When I expressed these things to Cyla, she reminded how I could never see my family if I were trained in the Temple. I begrudgingly accepted this fact, hating the fact that the Council was so smart but still couldn't come up with a way to make things easier on Cyla.

I guess the Council must have taken note of my improvement in Jedi training as I got my first mission on my thirteenth birthday.

That day, we did as the year before as to celebrating my birthday; except now we had Strive and Cyla added to the family and we had celebrated it in the shop. As soon I learned the Cyla forgot her birthday as she didn't celebrate in within the Jedi Order since she was seven, I insisted she celebrated too as she deserved a birthday too. She rolled her eyes as she saw I wasn't going to take no for an answer and she took on the offer to have a birthday with me. As a tradition Onthant seemed to be very fond of, my face was once again smashed into the cake once the flame was extinguished. As we wanted Cyla to be a part of the Solarburn family tradition, Onthant and I both planted her face in the remains of the cake too.

Huh...I guess I did kinda consider myself a Solarburn...Never really thought about that in ages…

Anyways, I found something a little peculiar that happened between Onthant and Cyla as soon as she lifted her face that was now covered in frosting and was laughing. Onthant wiped her face with his hand; but once she looked into his eyes, she froze. And not in a terrifying way. I think she saw something in those eyes of my brother. Something I didn't understand until much later when I shared that very same look with someone who I foolishly feel for.

She laughed so hard she almost cried as she stood there. I remembered that a moment later, Cyla and I had a little competition on which one of us could keep a straight face as we stared at each other with our faces covered with cake still and one of us would make a silly face while the other would do their best to keep a straight face. We both lost fairly quickly.

Later, Cyla told me the news on the mission that she and I were assigned. She told me it was a birthday present as she had requested a mission for the two of us rotations earlier as she knew my birthday was coming up. I was ecstatic to get my first mission. We headed out for our first mission in that evening: Cyla also having Beepy come along as she felt he would be useful. It was a retrieval mission of some information about the gang of Black Heth as the Council had intel they had planned an attack on the Jedi Temple. I was not too happy about the fact we were going to have to deal with the Black Heth. I wondered if the Council had told Cyla of my biological father having been the co-leader of the gang. I decided not to ask. I hadn't told her that I knew what she mentioned to Master Yoda about her having been a slave on Jakku before becoming a Jedi, anyway. So, I guessed it was best to keep these things to myself.

Cyla gave me a data pad of what I needed to know and the faces I needed to find before we left. I was taken aback as I viewed my information and the faces I needed to know but already knew. Cyla explained further to me on the information. A female, purple hybrid of a twi'lek and human, had brown eyes and was at the age of seventeen. She was named Miri Stocula. And then there was an adult human male with black hair that had a white stripe through his hair and had a goatee; the name was Razo Hikra who was the father of the half-twi'lek /half-human named Miri. Cyla asked if I knew them, but I immediately responded that I did not and the last name was a coincidence. That was the first time I lied to my Master. Cyla explained that she would shadow Razo while Beepy and I shadowed Miri. We arrived at a local bar that intel had told was where our targets were at. It was NO place a kid should have been at, but my Master had trust in my skills that I would be fine. The bar was filled with drunken people and women with barely any clothes that danced on tables and flirted with multiple people. The alcohol burned my nose as the aroma filled the air and you could hear music boom over the speakers as neon lights of pink and red illuminated the building's insides. I squirmed my way through the drunken crowd and noticed there were a few different types of people there are in a bar: the paranoid, the sleepy, the overly giddy, the angry ones, the flirts, and the heartbroken ones. And then there was me. As my R3 unit and I squirmed through that crowd, we scanned our surroundings for the purple twi'lek/human. I knew her alright, being her half-brother and all. But, no one knew that. No one needed to know that then. I didn't want anyone to know it then.

Suddenly, a great force jerked me backward as something was clamped onto the scruff of my neck. When I turned around I met the grey eyes speckled with brown that I hadn't seen since I had returned from the Jedi Temple back into the Under City. Beepy whirred violently with distressed signals as he saw me being so forcefully grabbed by a stranger to him.

"I had a feeling I'd bump into someone important tonight," Razo sneered. His breath reeked of alcohol; I knew that was bad news immediately. He was horrible to be around when he was drunk. As I mentioned before, there are certain people that are in a bar. And he was definitely an angry drunk. Alcohol plus him was one of the main reasons I had multiple black eyes before I met Canto and Onthant. He now had a grip on my arm as he looked at me.

"Let me go!" I yelled as wriggled my arm to release his grip. This only resulted in his grip only tightening.

"Why did you leave without a goodbye, son?Your sister Miri really misses you." he sneered in an angry tone. "What family do you have now, boy?"

"You weren't my family!" I shouted. "I have a real family now! I'm even training to be a Jedi!"

"We weren't family?!" He nearly was breaking my arm now. I looked up and saw he was angry. Really angry. The face he had every time before he did something really bad.

I got scared. I got REALLY scared. I didn't know what came over me, but I felt the Force flow through me in a quick burst. I felt my arm being released as Razo flew backward.

His back slammed into the side of the bar and the group of people near looked to me as if I had tooka ears sprouting from my head. The man I had shoved away just laughed and looked back to me.

"You really weren't lying. You are a Jedi," he laughed. His laugh was offsetting as it echoed in my head. I saw his hand creep to the blaster on his hip. My hands flew to the lightsaber of mine on my belt. A shot split the air followed by the hum of a lightsaber. The crowd inside the bar screamed as the green light appeared in the form of a sword. But, it wasn't my lightsaber and it wasn't Razo's blaster.

I looked to the other side of the bar to see Cyla with her lightsaber activated as a teenage girl was near the end of it. The teenager had a half of a blaster left in her hand as the other half was cut off. It was Miri who was at the mercy of Cyla. Razo, being the great father he was, ran in the direction of the exit and opposite direction of his daughter who was at the end of a lightsaber.

Very soon after, Miri was in handcuffs that bound her hands behind her back as Cyla kept a tight grip on the purple half-twi'lek/human. Cyla walked with her over to the exit with me and Beepy to follow. But once Miri spotted me, she spilled the beans. She started screaming at me and calling me foul names. Calling me a traitor for leaving the "family".

"Padawan, you know her?" Cyla urgently asked.

"Of course he'd know me, you stupid b****," she sneered. "He's my brother."

"Hey! You will not refer to my Master like that!" I barked. "And we're only half-siblings, you idiot!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot that your mom was no-good slu-"

"SHUT UP!" I screamed.

"Hikra!" Cyla sternly scorned at a very loud volume. "I hear one more outburst from you like that and you're grounded!"

I sighed as I bit my tongue; listening to Cyla.

"The local police are going to be here any moment to pick her up," Cyla gestured to Miri. "And when we leave, I expect some answers out of you, Padawan."

"Aw...is this your new mommy?" Miri taunted.

"Hey, at least my mom didn't kill herself," I remarked.

Cyla was soon forced to slam Miri on the ground as the twi'lek/human tried to escape from her cuffs and kill me. Cyla kept her pinned on the ground until the local Under City police droids came to pick Miri up. After Miri was taken into the custody of the police, Cyla held out a disc to me.

"I found this on her," she said. "I think it's the plans for the attack on the Temple. She was talking to a known explosives dealer when I spotted her; so it can be safe to assume that it was most likely going to be a disaster to the Jedi Temple if we didn't get these plans in time."

"So, you succeeded?" I inquired.

With a smile, Cyla placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "We succeeded. I could never do these kinds of missions without my Padawan."

"What did I do? Razo was drunk, he couldn't have been much help in planning the attack anyways," I told. "You could've done this without me."

"But, you give me confidence."

I was confused.

"Without you, Padawan, I would still feel as if I were still a Padawan learner myself. Seeing how you have grown under my tutelage, I can assure myself that I am a Jedi Knight and no longer a Padawan. Though I still have so much to learn within the Force, I know because of you that I know what I'm doing as a Jedi," she told. "Even though Razo would not have been planning the attack himself in his drunken state, he could have attacked me while I comprehend Miri. And what kind of backup would I have? And there was probably more than likely more Black Heth members in that crowd that could have also attacked me. But, seeing that we were BOTH there, they knew they couldn't take on two of us, so they didn't."

A smile grew on my face as I looked up at her. I never knew she ever doubted herself, let alone having confidence because of me. I didn't see myself as vital to the mission until she explained that to me.

As we walked through the Underworld once more, it was nighttime. Though, you couldn't tell without looking at a watch as the amount of light that reached the Slum District was always the same. Nothing. Only artificial light illuminates our world down here. I thought Cyla had forgotten about the whole "Miri is my sister and Razo is actually my father" thing as we were walking back to the apartment I shared with Onthant and Canto, but she brought it up anyways.

"So, is it true?" Cyla asked as she turned to me.

"What?"

"Miri is your sister?"

I darted my eyes down to the ground as I continued to walk beside her as I said nothing.

"Padawan," she warned.

"Fine," I huffed. "She is. Only on my dad's side."

"So you did know Razo and Miri," she concluded. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Um, I don't know. I didn't want you to think I was still working with them," I admitted with a shrug. "I ran away when I was eleven and I found Canto and Onthant a couple weeks later."

"Why did you run away?" I could tell she wasn't mad at me now. I could hear compassion in her voice.

As I sharply inhaled, I stopped walking and Cyla stopped too. I contemplated on what I should say.

"Well...I don't tell many people…"

"It's alright; I won't tell anyone," Cyla assured. "But if I'm going to train you, you need to learn that we can let our guard down around each other and not be afraid."

"Razo used to beat me," I quickly blurted out. I didn't dare to meet Cyla's eyes as I kept my vision fixated on the ground. "He used to give me black eyes and bruises all the time when he got drunk. He didn't dare to hit Miri, though. She was his favorite. He really loved her and Miri's mom. He hated my mom and the thought of me since she left me with him when I was a baby. I think she left him for a good reason, though. He never told her about him having Miri with another woman until she found out about it. After my mom left, Razo and Miri's mom got married. She was from Ryloth and she would speak in Twi'leki whenever Razo left me in her care, so I became fluent in it. She beat me too. She later committed suicide about a little before I ran away because Razo had just gotten the title of co-leader of Black Heth and he was always really stressed and drunk. Miri also joined the gang at that time since she was finally fifteen; she didn't like her daughter being in the gang. After Miri's mom died, Razo got REALLY violent at me. He almost killed me once when he had a blaster to my head as he pinned me down. Another member of the gang was able to pull him off me and saved me. I knew that he was going to kill me if I stayed any longer, so I left."

I let out a couple shaky breaths as I kept my arms crossed over my chest and clenched tightly onto my arms. I still had my eyes on the ground as Cyla stood in front of me. I felt her gloved hand being placed on my shoulder and I looked up to her. She had pity on her face with compassion mixed in. She didn't even need to say anything and yet I knew exactly what she was telling me. Tears streamed down my face as I stood there and Cyla embraced me in a tight hug. I hadn't cried like that in a good long time, let alone about all of that.I shook while I sobbed, whether it was from sadness or anger I still don't know. It was a while until I was all cried out and Cyla let me out of the tight embrace.

"Hey, you're ok," she hushed my crying. "It's ok to cry."

"But aren't Jedi supposed to not have feelings?" I sniffled.

"No, in fact, we are encouraged to listen to our feelings," Cyla told. "You must learn to listen to your emotions; they are valuable and should not be suppressed. You just need to learn to control them or they may just control you."

"Yes, Master," I nodded.

"We better get you home," Cyla smiled as she wiped away a tear. "Your dad and brother are probably worried sick about you."

As we approached the apartment building I lived in, Cyla stopped to watch me walk up to the building just as she had done every day after training. I only took a couple steps with Beepy beside me before I turned to her.

"Hey, you should spend the night," I offered. "I think the Hovertrain station is closed by this time."

She contemplated for a moment.

"Come on, you never even seen our apartment," I encouraged

With a smile, my Master agreed. She followed me and Beepy through the apartment complex to our apartment door where I could sense that Onthant was up and around. I knocked on the door and he answered.

I think Cyla nearly had a heart-attack when the door slid open and Onthant stood there with nothing on but a pair of boxers. As our home only consisted of three guys, wearing only your underwear around the apartment was completely normal. Blood rushed to Onthant's face as he stood there in front of us. I looked back and saw Cyla had frozen with her face also a crimson red. Her eyes were wide and she made sure her eyes were locked on his face and let them not dare wander anywhere else.

"Uh, uh, Cyla!" Onthant faked a nervous smile. "He-ey. What's up?"

As she shook out of her frozen state, she stuttered, "Oh, uh, well, I just brought Jalo back home. The mission went muscle good…"

I caught her glimpsing at the torso of Onthant. I hadn't noticed it too much before, but Onthant actually had a lot of muscles, even defined abs.

"He wanted me to stay overnight, but it's abbs- I mean absolutely fine if you don't want me to stay. Being a woman and all, I don't know if you'd be uncomfortable with that…"

"No-no!" he stopped her. "You're fine!C-come on in!"

I looked back at my Master and raised my eyebrow at her and had a smirk on my face. She looked down at me and gave me a warning look. We walked into the apartment and I took Cyla to see the rest of the apartment. Canto was asleep, so I only showed her the door to his room. She was taken aback once again as she saw the war-zone like room Onthant and I shared. When Cyla offered to sleep on our common room's couch, Onthant stepped in and he offered her his hammock in our room while he slept on the couch. She agreed and we all went to bed.


	9. Chapter 8- My Jedi Master gets drunk

I was deep into sleep when I began to have a vivid dream that night. For some reason, this dream was more vivid than other dreams I had had before. And to this day, after many decades, I still distinctly remember it.

I was standing in the middle of a hot desert of sand. Nothing but the sand was there for kilometers as I looked around. I looked to my side and nearly jumped out of my skin to see a little girl. She was about five, seven at most, starved, had brown hair, a burnt tone of skin, green eyes, had chains on her hands, and was in scraps of clothing. I followed the chains up to a cart that was attached to an animal; a dewback. She was crying as she stood there.

"I'm thirsty, Master!" she cried. "I want water! Please!"

"Hey, hey, kid," I placed a hand on the child's shoulder. I screamed as my hand went right through her like I was a ghost. I looked at my hands and saw I wasn't too far off. My hands were near see-through and so was the rest of me.

"Oh, shut up, crybaby!" a man said as he came around from the cart. He was some kind of mix of human and an unknown reptilian mix with patches of scales all over him. He had bright yellow eyes and wore a blaster on his hip. "You'll be sold at the market soon enough. Then I won't have to deal with you."

"Hey!" I shouted "The kid needs water, you jerk! It's hot out!" he obviously could not hear me.

"Come on, let's go into town. Sell ya to some other poor soul," the man said and soon mounted onto the harness on the dewback. The cart began to roll and the little girl followed on foot as her hands were still bound by the chains.

My vision cut to a busy town filled with people of all different species walking around. Most of the place was covered by scraps of material over the heads of them to protect them from the harsh sun. By the looks of it, I could tell it was a market. I could see the man and the little girl who was still in chains being introduced to a nautolan. But, the man with scales on his body seemed mad at the female nautolan.

I walked closer to them and could hear their conversation better.

"You're not gettin' this kid unless you pay full price, lady!" the man shook the girl's chains for effect. "Jedi or not!"

I looked up to the nautolan and was taken aback as I saw that it was none other than Master Tanza as she bargained with the man.

"Sir, this girl should not be sold as a slave!" she argued. "She should be able to live her own life. Now, I am offering you a fair amount to you for her freedom and her to be taken as a Jedi by me!"

"If she's a Jedi, then I want double," the man snapped.

The little girl looks petrified as she stood there in chains and nearly in tears. She cried to the nautolan, "I'll be a good servant! Please!"

The girl fell backward as the man hit her with his hand on her face, "Quiet!" he roared as she sobbed.

"I said quiet!" he roared again at the child and raised his fist.

The nautolan quickly grabbed his fist as she looked at him. Master Tanza stated, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, sir."

He let go of the girl's chains and grabbed for his blaster. His arm was soon sliced off by the hum of a blue blade with his blaster still in the severed Tanza soon pushed the man away from the two with the Force and he crashed into a fruit stand and collapsed. Master Tanza looked to the little girl and kneeled down onto her knee and held out her hand to the little girl.

"It's alright. I won't hurt you," she assured. "What's your name?"

"Cy- Cy," the little girl stuttered. She could hardly muster to talk through the sobbing. "Cyla Dume."

"How would you like to come to Coruscant with me?" Master Tanza asked with a smile.

The little girl nodded her head rapidly. Tanza picked her up and held her in her arms and the two began to walk away.

"I think you'll like the Jedi Temple."

I snapped my eyes open and saw the ceiling of my familiar room. I gulped as I paced my breathing, taking in everything I had just seen. I could hear feet hit the ground on the other side of the room and I knew it was Cyla as she had just woke up. I could tell she was deeply shaken as I sensed it in the Force. She walked out of the room and the door closed behind her.

Beepy told me of the rest that had happened as he was sitting in the common room with Onthant as they played Dejarik since he couldn't sleep too well on the couch. Cyla lurked in the dark as she watched the two. My brother didn't even realize she was there until she spoke up and told him a tip so he could win.

This time, Cyla didn't seem too skittish about the fact he had nothing on but his boxers as she walked over to them.

"Thanks," Onthant chuckled as the Dejarik board reset. He ran his hand through his hair."Why are you up?"

"Couldn't sleep," Cyla shrugged. "You?"

"This couch is a little uncomfortable to get any good rest on," Onthant shrugged. He looked at Cyla and slyly remarked, "Ya know, I'd imagine you'd be more tired. Why? Cuz you've been running through my mind all night."

"Why do you do that?" Cyla asked. "Flirt with me? You know there are other girls in this galaxy who would gladly come running into your arms. You're handsome enough."

"But, how many women are as beautiful, caring, and smart as you?" Onthant smiled.

Beepy rolled away from the two as they continued to talk. He came right to my bedside and beeped at me to get up and to follow him. Intrigued, I did. I peered around the corner to the common room as I watched my Master and brother talk.

"Onthant, as a Jedi, I am supposed to acknowledge my feelings. And I will admit that I harbor some feelings for you. But, we can't happen. Jedi aren't supposed to have attachments. I'd be betraying the very ideals I live by while I'm teaching my Padawan those same ideals."

I was wide-eyed and so was my brother.

"Wait, so you admit that you have feelings too?"

"Yes. But I can't follow them. If we were to happen...we'd be living a lie. One we couldn't keep. What kind of relationship would that be?" Cyla asked as she gripped her elbow with her opposite arm.

As Onthant stood, he said, "We could be something, though. We'd just have to work a bit for it."

Sighing, Cyla stated, "I can't put my Padawan in that position. Could you imagine how he'd feel? His Master and his brother being a couple? I wouldn't want to do that to him."

Onthant sat down as he sighed, "I guess you're right. It wouldn't be fair to do that to him."

Cyla walked up to Onthant and sat next to him on the couch. She planted a small kiss on his forehead and said, "It's nice to dream it, anyways, Onie."

Onthant looked at Cyla and smiled. He leaned to her and she placed a hand on his perked lips.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"I've never kissed anyone."

"Me neither," Onthant chuckled. "Just- don't think about it, I guess."

I shielded my eyes after a good few moments of them kissing; I nearly puked then and there once I saw their lips meet. After a minute or two, I decided I should put an end to it. I stepped out from around the corner and spoke up.

"Um, Master?"

Cyla immediately jerked her head away from the kiss and looked to me. She could hardly talk as she was out of breath, "Oh- Jalo! We were just- I was asking Onthant if my breath smelled?"

I wasn't buying it.

Red flooded Onthant's face as he saw me with my arms crossed, waiting for an answer.

As they both stood up, Cyla rambled on and on how she would never do that again, how sorry she was, how she didn't want anything to be awkward because of this all, and others.

"Hey, I'm alright with you two being a thing," I shrugged.

"You are?" Onthant asked.

"Yeah," I said. "It's not like you're going to get a better girl."

"Hey!" Onthant complained.

"Alright, alright, let's send you off to bed," Cyla shooed me off.

Onthant chuckled and wrapped his arm around Cyla's waist and said, "Yeah, Blondie."

"You too," Cyla took his arm away from her waist. "Go and sleep in your own bed. I'll sleep on the couch."

"But-" Onthant and I began to complain.

"Go."

When we woke up the next morning, we woke up to a near spotless house. Canto was very confused and looked at us for answers. We found a note on the Dejarik table that was from Cyla; telling us how she was thankful for our hospitality and that she took the train back to the Jedi Temple once the station opened. We later explained to both Strive and Canto of the night before, not telling them about Razo and Miri being related to me or the dream I had of a younger Cyla. Though, the kissing scene was like gold to Strive and me.

Skip ahead a few rotations, I was having lightsaber training with Cyla in a nearby alley. She had me practicing blocks as she swung her lightsaber at me. I was doing fairly okay at this point of my training in lightsaber combat, but I wasn't too good at going on the offense as I was just good at blocks. We always practiced lightsaber combat in that alley as it was right next to the shop and was great for Cyla to have me practice dodging and blocking trash we'd find. That day, Onthant was on his lunch break and decided to watch us train as he leaned up against the wall of the alley. Though, I think he was mostly watching Cyla.

Cyla noticed and we both turned off our lightsabers and turned to him. She turned back to me and ordered me to take a break.

"But-"

"Go."

I begrudgingly obeyed my Master and went out of the alley. As soon as I was a good five meters away, I used the Force to propel me into the air as I jumped onto the roof. I slowly snuck up to the end of the roof where the alley was and I could hear Cyla and Onthant talk. I laid my stomach on the roof while my head peered over the ledge.

As he ran his hand through his hair, Onthant said, "So...that kiss… we never talked about it. It's been a few rotations."

"I know," she shook her head. "It was foolish of me. I should have never given into my feelings."

"Cy, it's only natural to have feelings," Onthant shrugged. It wasn't until then I realized the small nicknames they had called each other. Cy. Onie.

Strange, I thought, Cy, sounds like "see". Doesn't seem so much like a good pet name; could get confusing. But who was I to judge them?

"Not for a Jedi. Jedi are forbidden to have passion, to have attachments. I'd be betraying the sacred Code of the Jedi if we were to ever-," Cyla paused, not knowing what to say. "If we were to become anything more than friends. Associates."

"Then wouldn't you be betraying your heart? What you felt was just right?" Onthant stepped closer to her and loosely grasped her hand.

"Onthant, you know how I feel," Cyla sighed and she looked up to him.

"Do I?" and he grabbed her other hand with a loose grip and interwove their fingers together. They brought one pair of their interwoven hands and lightly pressed it against Cyla's face and she seemed to close her eyes and contemplate on what to say while also soaking in this contact.

She let out a deep sigh and looked up at him again. I was taken aback when I could see her bloodshot eyes as if she were about to cry. "I can't." were the only words she spoke.

My Master crying. I never came across the thought that it was even possible. She always seemed so composed and put together; but now, on the verge of tears, I realized how much Onthant meant to her. She broke her hands away and walked away from Onthant; leaving him alone in the alley. She didn't even look back at him.

I ran to the other side of the roof where I leaped down with the help of the Force. Cyla was soon to come up behind me and looked at me with an inquisitive look.

"Were you just listening to that?" she questioned.

I remained silent as I froze, not sure what to say to her. I didn't want to make her mad. Not with her nearly crying already.

"How much did you hear?"

I again remained quiet and bit my tongue as she glared at me. After a good moment of her warning eye of hers, I gave in.

"All of it," I sighed.

As she took in a deep breath through her nose, she contemplated on what to respond with. She said, "Just go back inside."

"But-"

"Now." her voice was stern.

"No!" I retaliated.

"Padawan," she warned. "I am not in the mood to put up with your behavior."

"I can't believe you! You know you like him and I can see it!" I almost seemed to be pleading with her. "Why do you just turn away like that?! Can't you see that you like him?!

"Padawan!" she yelled at a high volume. I had never heard her bark that word so harshly at me, nor yell with so much anger. "Go! I will not discuss this matter any further!"

Half of me wanted to turn away and obey her, the other half wanted me to fight back. That half won.

"Why do you allow yourself to be so controlled by this stupid Jedi Order! It's like you're their slave!" I bit my tongue as soon as I said those words.

Now her face was burning with anger as she looked at me. She hissed in a low voice, " I thought I had taught my Padawan more respect. I guess I was wrong."

And she left. I went back to the shop and continued to work beside Canto, Beepy, and Strive. It was a good while until Onthant returned to the shop; eyes a little bloodshot and puffy. I didn't want to even ask if he was ok because I knew he wasn' we were working on a project together, I brought up Cyla.

"I talked to her, ya know," I spoke up. "She was really mad at me for telling her she shouldn't listen to the stupid Order-"

"Blondie," Onthant's voice was low and stern. "I don't want you to get involved. It's not right."

"I just want to help!" I retaliated. "I'm not doing it for just you!"

"Blondie, please," he sighed. "It- it was stupid of me to even think we'd work out. She's a Jedi. Let alone your Jedi Master. It was hopeless and stupid. Just leave it alone."

"Onthant…"

"Just leave it alone, Blondie."

The next rotation, Cyla came back from the Temple just as she always had. She had caught us while Dad- I mean - Canto and Onthant were working together on a speeder while Strive and I were working on other various projects. She didn't call me off of my work like she usually did for Jedi training, though. She looked right at Onthant and requested to speak to him alone. Strive leaned over to me and chuckled.

"Alone?" he chuckled. "I guess this relationship is going faster than we expected. I call being the best man at the wedding."

I quickly told him of the events of yesterday and the smile on his face quickly drained as he stood there. Canto was near us now that Onthant and Cyla had left, and he was just as happy as ever.

"Shouldn't have fallen for a woman anyways, the idiot," he shook his head.

I found this peculiar. Had he had a bad experience because of a woman he loved? Then I got to thinking about how Onthant had a mother at one point or another and now she was gone. That meant Canto either was there when she died. That or she left him with their son to take care of. I didn't want to ask.

Unbeknownst to me, Beepy followed Cyla and Onthant through the Under City from a distance as he was curious about what was going on. How strange that droid was. I didn't really understand why he was the way he was until I started telling you my story. He mimicked me. His coding was like my own. He was curious, he just wanted to help, and once he found someone he loved and trusted- he didn't let go. I guess I was just the unreliable one with a few more short circuits and loose wires.

As Onthant and Cyla walked through the Under City, they started to talk- really talk- about what was between them. Cyla wanted it to be a wall; Onthant wanted it to be something more. It was the first time I had ever heard of the two having a conversation alone that was more than just small talk or Onthant failing at flirting. It was the first time Onthant even mentioned him having a mom and the first time Cyla had said anything about her being a slave on Jakku. Though, neither went into the subjects farther than just the pure mention of it. The one sentence Onthant uttered about his mom I wish I had looked at closely as Beepy reported back to me later.

"I actually had a mom once."

"Really? You never mentioned her," Cyla replied.

"Well, it's a little painful," Onthant sighed. "I was really close to her until I was five and she left Canto and me on our own. Guess she started another family with another guy. Had another son."

And that was all he said about her. Beepy tailed them for a little longer until they got closer to thicker crowds of the city and he lost sight of them. He looked frantically for the two, or the way back home for that matter. He had gotten caught up in such a thick crowd that he could hardly see through the gaps of people. He sped through the crowd as he panicked and rammed into the leg of a trandoshan. He whirred in an alarmed tone as he looked up to the tall trandoshan.

His sensors went crazy as his system matched up the face peering down at him to the trandoshan that had chucked him across the shop then nearly killed Onthant a few years ago when I had just met the Solarburns. Snipe. I remembered him.

"Hey! Watch it!" he growled.

"Snipe, what did I tell you about-" another man turned to Snipe. He was human and Beeby sure recognized my biological father. And vice versa. He raised an eyebrow at the droid. "Well hello there, stranger."

Beepy was really freaking out now, sending as many distress signals he could to my little com I had made before in case we needed to find each other.

"You recognize this droid, boss?" the trandoshan hissed.

"Yes, he's my son's companion. I saw them in that bar a while back ago when they got Miri," he looked to the trandoshan.

"What do you want to do with him, boss?"

"Jalo is a Jedi now and so was that woman with him who took Miri. This droid being here means that lady-Jedi is around here as well as Jalo. Shut him down and I'll get a team and we'll hunt down the lady and Jalo."

Next thing Beepy knew, his system was rebooting slowly. As his camera was slowly readjusting, he could process that he was somewhere he had never been before. It was an old warehouse somewhere Beepy nor I had been to. It seemed to be filled with a bunch of crates full of supplies. He scanned his vision around the area and noticed the familiar purple twi'lek/human who called me her brother. Then he saw the trandoshan who he had run into. Trying his best to be undetected, he kept quiet the best he could and as still as possible.

"When do you think Razo will bring that Jedi back?" Miri asked as she rubbed her wrists. She must have just broken out of jail as she was wearing an orange jumpsuit with a code of numbers on her left lapel and her back.

"Soon," Snipe hissed. "You'll get your revenge on her. Rough her up a bit."

Once Beepy let out a few concerned beeps, the heads of the few gang members turned to my droid.

"He's awake!" Miri shouted and jumped up too soon run after the droid and being accompanied by ten other members of the group.

Next thing Beepy knew, he ran into another pair of legs. He looked up and was relieved to see the familiar green eyes of Cyla. He frantically whirred and beeped at her and Onthant as he was right next to her.

Cyla snapped up her head and ignited her lightsaber to deflect a shot that would have shot Onthant in the head. Onthant got out his small blaster he always carried on his waist for protection and started firing back at the gang. The three soon started to run in the opposite direction to get as far away from them as they could. Though, it wasn't too far long after that Onthant was hit in his right shoulder by a blaster bolt. Cyla saw this and ordered them to go back.

"Get out of here! I got them!" Cyla shouted. "That's an order!"

"I'm not leaving without you!"

"GO!NOW!"

Onthant saw the focus of Cyla's face as she blocked another blaster bolt away and used the Force to knock down the member who had shot the blaster at her. He knew she wasn't going to take "no" for an answer and stood there for a moment before he left, gripping his wound.

When Cyla came back to the shop, about ten minutes after Onthant and Beepy had returned, she seemed to be frayed like an old rope. Her hair looked static, her eyes seemed stone cold, and her breath was heavy and yet steady. I immediately rushed to her.

"Beepy told me what happened? Are you ok?" I frantically asked. "Did you really take on that many Black Heth members at once? Did you win?"

"I'm fine. Where's Onthant? Is he ok?" she looked down to me. "How bad is his injury?"

"He's ok," I responded. "Just barely hit the top of his shoulder. He's in the back."

"I'll go check on him," she said in a serious and yet concerned tone of voice and rushed off.

Being the little spy I was, I followed in her shadow to the back door. I peered out of the crack of the door that had been left slightly open. I watched as I saw Cyla approach my brother who was sitting on an old crate with no shirt on. He had a bacta patch on his shoulder mostly on his wound, but not fully as he could not reach the rest of it.

When they talked, Cyla seemed so concerned about him and he seemed even more concerned about her. Cyla crouched down to her knees to be level with Onthant and looked over him for more injuries.

"I'm fine, Cy," he assured. "Are you?"

"Don't worry about me."

"You know I always will worry about you, right?" he said. "I care about you."

She let out a sigh as she still had a soft grip on his hand and looked up at him, "I am capable of taking care of myself."

"Cyla, believe it or not, I know that. You are able to care for yourself, but not until you have already cared about everyone else first and leaving no time for yourself," Onthant continued. "That's why I like you. You're selfless."

"I thought you only went for my looks?

"No," he shook his head. "I like you-you. And, I want to help you; be with you."

As she pursed her lips as she thought, she looked at the ground and said nothing.

"What do you think?" Onthant smiled unsurely.

"We can't let the Council find out," Cyla said. "And, we can't let anything get in the way of Jalo's training."

With a smirk, Onthant stated, "I can do that. We gonna tell Strive, Blondie, and my dad?"

"If you want…"

"Great," he had a stupid grin on his face. "How 'bout you and I go dancin' tonight? Just you and me on the town."

"Well, I'd look fairly peculiar with my Jedi robes on in a club."

"We can get you some clothes that'll help you blend in if you want," Onthant offered. "I'll even pay for drinks."

"I've never drank," she admitted.

"Well, there's a first time for everything," he lightly chuckled. "Don't worry we'll just have some mild drinks."

"Aren't you only 19? Should we be allowed to drink?"

"The drinking age down here is only eighteen," Onthant shrugged. "I'm fine. How old are you?"

"I've been told I'm now nineteen by the Order's records," Cyla assured and smiled. "I guess I can tell the Council I'm going to stay the night down here again."

Onthant smiled and stood in front of Cyla, still holding her hand. "Look at you. Breaking the rules. Aren't you a rebellious little Jedi?"

Skip ahead to the next day, we found out that it was a good thing Cyla was not often exposed to alcohol.

Why?

"YOU GOT INTO A BAR FIGHT WHILE YOU WERE DRUNK?!" Canto screamed as Cyla and Onthant sat in front of my infuriated dad. Cyla was wearing a red tank top that went a little above her bellybutton, had tight black leggings on, wore fingerless leather gloves, and had her regular boots on. An apparel I was in absolute shock to see her in. Her hair was in a messy ponytail and she looked fairly ashamed as Canto continued to scream at her and Onthant. "What were you thinking, Onthant?! Letting your brother's Jedi Master drink?! Idiot! She's never had alcohol and probably for good reasons! She could've killed someone with that lightsaber of hers!"

"Dad-"

"Don't you 'Dad' me!" he snapped at Onthant. "How did you think that this was a good idea?! The police could be knocking on our door at any minute now! And what would happen to your brother if they were to take Cyla out of the Jedi Order because of this!? He'd be sent to the surface to be trained up in the Temple and we'd have no say in anything!"

It was probably four in the mourning while this all went down in our apartment. Though, you really would have never guessed Cyla had gotten into a fight with the lack of bruises and cuts. Though, Onthant had one good cut on his upper arm and a bruise on his chin. Apparently, after some drinks, some guy grabbed Cyla's rear and she nailed him with a hook punch to the head. The guy wouldn't go away after the punch and Onthant and him really got into it. Cyla wasn't even that drunk, only having a half a cup of their weakest stuff they had at the counter. Onthant, on the other hand, had a few shots by that time leading up to the fight. Cyla and he ran after the guy was knocked unconscious by Onthant. The two showed up at our apartment; then spilling everything to Canto after he could see the condition Onthant was in and the fact Cyla wasn't wearing her normal Jedi robes. They were now sitting on the couch while Canto paced around the common room as he screamed in fury. I and Beepy stood by the wall as we watched the whole thing go down.

" -" Cyla was soon cut off.

"And how could you think that this was the 'Jedi way'?! Aren't you supposed to be training a Padawan? I guess being drunk and getting in fights is the great example you want for Jalo to become when he grows up!"

"She wasn't drunk," Onthant's voice was slightly slurred. Probably from the mix of the alcohol and the bruise on his jaw. "I was. She hardly even had a half of a glass of some beer. I was the one who had a few shots. A guy came up and grabbed Cyla's as-"

He realized I was in the room.

"- Rear-end," he corrected himself. "Cyla punched him. He wouldn't leave and then he and I got into it."

"Is this true?" Canto looked to Cyla.

"Yes," my Jedi Master nodded, her voice perfectly normal. "It is. I'm truly sorry about what danger I put your family in."

"Why were you two even out in a bar at this hour? Was this some kind of DATE ?" Canto asked, almost disgusted by the word "date".

"Yes," Cyla and Onthant both sighed.

As he narrowed his eyes at Cyla, he asked, "I thought your religion forbade love and all that?"

"We are not allowed to have attachments or passion," Cyla corrected. "We are encouraged to love. This courtship Onthant and I have may be pushing the limits of the rules, but I'm willing to give it a try. Just as long as the Jedi Order doesn't find out."

"You two really do like each other, don't ya?" Canto sighed as he looked at the two with a seemingly sympathetic look on his face.

"Yeah," Onthant admitted with an unsure voice. "Is that ok?"

Letting out a deep sigh, he said, "I guess I can allow it. Just- don't do anything stupid like this again. You guys have to think of Jalo. He really does depend on you two. You are his Jedi Master and his big brother. It's like having a kid; they're gonna have to come first until they leave. You two will learn when you have a kid."

The mention of them having a kid together made them both stutter inaudible strings of words as they both flushed a maroon red on their faces.

"A kid?! What?! No-" Cyla stuttered. "Never! I mean- a kid?!We would never-"

"Yeah, Dad! A kid? Pshhh- I - we wouldn't even-"

As he crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrow at the two, Canto stated, "Alright. Because I don't wanna be a grandpa for a good long while."


	10. Chapter 9- Life and Death in a family

Onthant and Cyla's relationship did progress as well as my Jedi training. In fact, it was a bit after I had turned fourteen when Onthant had proposed to Cyla.

She said "yes".

We had a small wedding in the old shop after we shut the doors. We had made Cyla a dress out of some material we found on discount; well, she mostly made the dress as none of us knew how to sew. Onthant wore the old suit our dad had worn when he had married Onthant's mother and his hair was tight back in a slick ponytail; now he had a full-grown beard on his chin too. Strive and I wore the best clothing we could find and did our best to make a little altar for the wedding. I even combed back my hair. We even made a little cake for the occasion. Canto was the one who performed the wedding since he got a license off the Holonet that allowed the two to get married. Beepy was decorated with a little bow tie and a pillow as he held out the two rings for them; also passed down from Onthant's mother and father.

Strive was caught crying a little by myself a few times and so was Canto. I didn't cry, but I was still ecstatic for my Master and brother. It was really fun after-party that followed. We played a few games that included Onthant and Cyla guessing trivia about the other, Canto telling Cyla of embarrassing things Onthant did when he was a little kid, Onthant and I seeing which one of us knew more trivia about Cyla(I won. But how can I be surprised? I was her Padawan), Strive and Onthant seeing which one of them could take the most hot sauce, a race of me riding Beepy vs. everyone who dared challenge us as they rode a chair with wheels, and Onthant and Cyla kissing each other for a really long time and seeing who could hold their breath the longest. It was probably one of the happiest days I had seen of our family before..well..everything.

Strive and I had secretly saved up enough money for Cyla and Onthant to take a honeymoon vacation for three rotations. It was only a small motel a couple levels up, but at least it was something.

Our world came to a halt when Cyla started to feel nauseated and sick for continuous rotations. She would have to sit down at random moments from exhaustion the following few rotations after the wedding. We couldn't find a fever on her, so we urged her to get checked out by the doctor in the Temple.

When she came back to the shop a little later after her appointment, we all knew something was wrong as she began to sob in Onthant's arms. He and I comforted her in a hug as Canto, Beepy, and Strive stood close as they knew something was wrong.

She was pregnant.

When she had to explain herself to the Council, she said that she had no idea how she got pregnant. She dared not to mention her marriage as she knew that was the cause of it. It wasn't a lie that she didn't know how she got pregnant. "She really didn't know how she allowed herself to get pregnant" would be a more accurate statement. The Council was a little skeptical, but let her stay in the Order because Cyla still needed to train me.

When Cyla told us, however, Canto nearly fell over as his heart nearly stopped, Strive was frozen with shock, Beepy was panicking, and Onthant was doing his best to calmly process the information while also comforting his wife and the mother of his future child. I was mostly confused.

How was this supposed to work out? What was I supposed to do? Who was going to take care of the baby? How are we going to be able to care for such a fragile thing as a child? Our family could hardly survive just us as is; a baby was an extra mouth that we couldn't afford to feed. And what about my Jedi training with Cyla? She couldn't take care of two kids; training one in the Jedi ways and the other needing every aspect of it taken care of. Onthant couldn't take care of the child when Cyla was training me because he had to work in the shop, and we couldn't afford to hire someone to take his place. Down here, we don't have such a thing of paternity leave. You make it or you don't. You live or you die, and that means making difficult decisions. There is no one to help you-

No. That's not right; I was not on my own anymore. I had a family; now just a little bigger. And that's a big adjustment. But, we were Dumes and Solarburns and a- wait. What even is Strive's last name? Dear Force, I forgot his name!

Has it really been that long?Jeez…

We walled off a small area of the common room and put on a door to make a new room for the baby and Cyla and Onthant to move into. We also made a little crib for it.

It was a few rotations after Cyla had given us the news when we were beginning to paint the new nursery. We were in the apartment and came across a predicament.

"What color are we gonna paint it?" Canto asked. "Do we even know the thing's gender?"

"No," Cyla shook her head. "It's too early to know just yet."

"I kinda hope it's a boy," Strive said as he shrugged his shoulders. "It'd be cool to have another little Solarburn boy around."

"I'm hoping for a girl," Canto stated. "I'm tired of dealing with boys."

"Wow, Dad," Onthant looked to Canto with an annoyed look. "Wow."

"I hope it's a boy," I spoke up. "I really want a baby brother."

The others gave me a questioning stare as I said that. I didn't really process what I had said that would cause this; it made me feel uneasy.

"Why is everyone staring at me?" I asked as I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach from the looks they were embedding into my soul with their eyes.

"You just said that the baby would be your brother," Cyla said.

"Do you see me as a father figure? Do you see Cyla and me as parent figures? " Onthant asked, confused.

"What? No!" I quickly defended myself. "If anything, I see you as a bother figure because you're always bothering me."

"Hey, show your father some respect!" Strive joked.

"No! I-"

"Jalo, don't worry; I take it as a compliment," Cyla smiled. I hadn't noticed before that her Upper-level Coruscant accent was slowly fading away until just then. It must have been because she spent so much time with us in the Slum District. She still kept most of it throughout her life, though; always keeping that little bit of her Jedi past with her forever. Probably one of the few things she kept that reminded her that she was from the Jedi Temple that was once so high and mighty; now gone like the light of day after sunset.

"I did not mean to say it would be my brother! You two aren't my parents!"

"Don't worry about it, son," Onthant smiled. "Wanna talk about it later over a game of catch?"

"I'd like that," I softly sighed, just loud enough so only Onthant could hear me.

Truth be told, I really did. I saw each one of them like they were my own flesh and blood. Canto and Onthant seemed like father figures to me; Onthant also leaning towards the big brother role model for me. Cyla was like a big sister to me and sometimes the mom I never had. Strive even seemed like he were a big brother or uncle to me. They each made me into who I was when I grew up. Canto taught me to take care of business, Onthant taught me to keep my head up, Strive taught me to have fun in life, and Cyla taught me to be the strongest I could for the sake of others. They were the ones who raised me. They were the ones who loved me when no one else actually were my family. And I thought nothing could take that away from me.

I was so wrong. I was so very very wrong.

During the time when our family was expecting our new addition of a baby, my training was more difficult than ever. Cyla was a bit moody, always tired, and couldn't spar with me anymore for lightsaber training. She did the best she could, though. I could see it. I knew that pregnant women are usually cranky, but Cyla was hardly even close; maybe having a slight short temper here and there. But overall, she'd never lost her cool. I also heard they often cried; I only saw her cry when she told us the news of the pregnancy. It was also a common thing for women expecting a baby to have lots of cravings; she was self-disciplined and never asked for any food we didn't already have. If anything, we were the ones who were the most worrisome. Onthant always made sure she never got even a simple scratch, Strive always came over to our apartment to make us food, Canto even constantly made sure that Cyla wasn't overworked; never letting her even get near working on large projects in the shop, and I even made sure that she could get the most rest she could. I tried my absolute best to absorb whatever she taught me quickly so she only had to teach me once. I even began to study academics on my own; such as arithmetics, reading, and some history of the Jedi Order that all Padawans were required to learn. My brain still got distracted constantly, but I did my best for my brain not to get the best of me.

Even with this all, I honestly did feel a little neglected. I knew it was selfish of me, but I still wanted the attention of my family. I especially got mad with Onthant a few times as we were arguing over projects we were working on and I'd yell how he never bothered to teach me what to do and he'd yell that he doesn't have any time to deal with my stupidity. I also hated how my Jedi training was put back even more despite how I was far behind in my training if you considered my age. I felt horrible about it all; especially now that I look back at it. I should have listened to Cyla more. I should have just stepped back for a moment and realized the bigger problem rather than just focus on the problems it caused myself.

One thing I did notice during Cyla's pregnancy was how much she actually loved Onthant. Sure, I knew Onthant loved Cyla and he showed it; but I never knew just how much she actually loved him. It was one night we three were on the couch in the common room and watching some Holo TV; the baby halfway is grown now and the bump definitely showed on Cyla's stomach. My Master sat in between my brother and me, curled up on Onthant's arm and her head resting on his shoulder.

"Hey, Onnie?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you want to name the baby?"

"Well, we have to know what its gender is first."

"We do, though," Cyla told. My head perked right up and so did Onthant's as we were immediately intrigued.

"What?"

"It's gonna be a girl; the doctor said," she told. "Though, I still think it's gonna be a boy."

"Why do you think that?"

"I can just tell," my Jedi Master shrugged. "It just gives off that vibe that reminds me so much of you."

"How so?"

"Protective yet friendly," Cyla told. "I can just tell he's gonna grow up to be like his daddy. Strong, protective, tall, and cuddly."

"Cuddly?" I scoffed.

As she looked back at me, she half chuckled, "Yes, Jalo. Your brother is very cuddly."

"Well, I'm not so sure about that," I shook my head.

She smiled and quickly wrapped her arms around me as she let go of Onthant's arm. I complained while laughing as she hugged me snugly and refused to let go.

"Well, you're pretty cuddly too, Jalo," she hugged me and ruffled my hair. "You sure you and Onthant aren't really related?"

"Stop!" I laughed as she continued to hug.

She let go of me and looked at Onthant and said, "I think you've helped raise one boy pretty well, how bad of parents could we be to this baby?" as she rubbed her belly.

"I didn't raise that idiot," Onthant chuckled.

"But you did play a huge role in his life," Cyla commented. "You really are like a secondary father-figure; behind Canto. You're gonna be a great father, Onnie."

He leaned over and kissed her for a moment.

"Force I love you," Cyla sighed as she pulled away from the kiss.

"Blehk," I disapproved of the kiss as I cringed.

"Shut up, Blondie," Onthant warned.

That actually was one of the few times I ever heard her say the word "love". She'd say it to Onthant very seldom in front of me; probably because she still wanted me to be a true Jedi. To not follow the path she led. She was really disobeying the Order to marry Onthant; she didn't want that for me. She was my Jedi Master and knew that I was supposed to eventually be a Jedi Knight like she was, but she wanted me to be better. That's how all teachers are to their students. All parents to their children. I knew that Cyla didn't want me to follow her steps and fall in love like she foolishly had. But, then again, I didn't listen to reason much.

I regret not listening sorely.

I didn't listen to her advice when everything boiled down. How stupid I was! How many things could have been avoided if I had just listened to her! So much time wasted! So much hurt caused! The lives that were lost! Everything! I'm going to tell you right now, if I had even listened to even just an inkling of what my Master had taught me, oh what a different life I would have led! Do you know how much I regret not letting that little voice that Cyla tried so hard to put in my head?! Do you even know how much better things might have been in my life as well as my family's if I had listened to her?! Men died because of me! Their blood on MY hands!

And it could have all been avoided. If only I had listened...

It was only mere rotations before the baby arrived when I had made one of my biggest mistakes of my life.

The Council had been apparently been getting more and more worried about how powerful Black Heth was growing and wanted us to sniff it out to see what they're planning. Though, Cyla never got the news. The message was given to me when I made one of my travels to the surface and to the Temple on my own to retrieve more data pads for my academics I'd learn at home; this had become routine after Cyla became pregnant. I often just went with Beepy to the Temple and we'd retrieve the supplies for my education and travel back home. I would get my things from Master Rend and she'd often give me a smile and my supplies every time. One day, she gave Beepy and me a chip and told us that it was imperative that Cyla got it. And, of course, I had to see it first. As soon as Beepy and I got to the Under City, I plugged the chip in and it displayed a plethora of words. I skimmed through it, my eyes near tumbling as I struggled to read so much. But the overall message was what I had said beforehand and something to my dismay: Black Heth caught wind that our family was expecting a baby.

How was I supposed to tell that to Cyla? "Hey, Master! Oh, by the way, your child is possibly going to get either killed or kidnapped by the gang that was under the command of my father! Oh, and I also read a file that was supposed to go directly from the Jedi Temple to you! Aren't I an amazing Padawan?" didn't seem like the best thing to say. My family was already worried enough about the baby just being born. This stress was immense on them already; I couldn't bring myself to tell them. I never told them.

As I let out a couple shaky breaths, I faked a laugh to the droid in front of me, "Huh, I guess our family is popular."

"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?" Beepy frantically whirred over and over.

"Hey, hey, relax," I told the droid. "It's a good chance they wouldn't want to deal with TWO Jedi protecting this baby. So, you and I'll just keep a careful eye out."

"Are we even going to tell them?!This seems like a big deal! I don't want anyone to get hurt..."

"No. Cyla is already under enough stress. This would just add to it, and I think that hurts a baby. We'll just keep this a secret between you and me."

"But-"

"It's going to be fine. Trust me. Don't you have any faith in me?"

This was a decision that near killed me later on.

It was mere rotations before Cyla was due to have the baby. (The family even decided to name it Syla as it was the name Strive called Cyla when we all first met her. But, I still hoped that it would be a boy despite that.) Canto and I were out running a couple errands and getting our needed supplies. He told me to go and look for Onthant who was also out looking for some supplies but had gone a separate way so we'd cover more ground. I decided to Force-jump onto the near buildings roofs and scanned my eyes around for my brother. It wasn't until I felt a sudden jerk in the Force that I decided to go back towards my dad.

I ran across the rooftop; not knowing why I even had such speed. Just knowing that the Force had suddenly felt so disturbed just then and there made me worry. My body stiffened like a statue when I saw Razo talking to Canto in the middle of the walkway. He seemed so angry towards Canto; growling and nearly spitting in his face as he spoke.

Canto didn't know who he was. What he wanted. Why he was there. He only knew he was angry.

"I want my son back," Razo growled. "I know he's been living with you. I have eyes all over this d mn slum. This is your last warning old man; either you give me my kid or I'll take the one that's due here soon."

"I don't know who you are or what you want," Canto glared into his eyes. "But, if you hurt either of my boys or my grandchild, I'll make sure that you don't see the light of day again."

"DAD!" I screamed at the top of my lungs from atop the roof.

Both men snapped their heads towards me as they had heard my voice. Razo saw that I had only been looking at Canto when I said that word and was infuriated. He whipped out his pistol from under his arm and placed it on Canto's chest.

"NO!"

His eyes glassed over and looked so surprised. So stunned. It was as if he took in a breath and could let it out; freezing in his throat. He couldn't move his limbs; I saw the panic in his eyes. There's something strange about when a man dies. Something that makes them just know that they're not there anymore. You can see their soul almost as it goes on and leaves the rest of us behind.

I screamed bloody murder as I saw this.

"DAD!"

I saw him fall to the ground with a hard thump. As I saw his final breath finally leave his mouth, rage-filled every inch of me. Maybe it was anger towards me, towards Razo, or towards the Force for letting this happen; but it was pure rage, and I had never so much of it before.

My hands took my lightsaber as if they had a mind for themselves and ignited the green blade. Rage took control of me and my lightsaber split the air as it flew at Razo and pierced his chest.

He locked eyes with me. He smiled. And he left. His body hit the ground and my lightsaber deactivated and clattered to the ground.

Time froze. Razo wasn't breathing. Canto wasn't breathing.I wasn't screaming anymore; I wasn't breathing.

One blink. I walked into an old mechanics shop and found an old droid and a man gave me a home.

Two blinks. My face was splattered with cake and I was fighting my brother while our dad stopped our fighting.

Three blinks. My dad was telling old stories to my Master on the day of my brother and Master's wedding.

Four blinks. My dad found out he was going to be a grandpa and I was going to be an uncle.

Five blinks. I killed a man.

Six blinks. I fell to my knees and puked.

Seven blinks. I sobbed.

Eight blinks. Onthant came running to the scene. Crouching down to our dad and crying, begging him to stay with us.

Nine blinks. I saw nothing

Ten blinks. I saw Cyla looking at me as she seemed distressed about something. Looking for something in my face.

" Padawan? Padawan?" her urgent voice was distorted. It was like she was underwater. Or maybe I was the one drowning.

"Jalo~"

Who's voice said that? It wasn't Cyla, nor Onthant, nor Strive, nor any voice I knew.

"Wake up~" the voice spoke. "You can't go now. Not yet. Wake up."

"Who are you?" my mouth had mustered to speak those three words.

She seemed so sad as I said that; like something inside was on the verge of breaking. "Padawan, what do you mean? Are you ok?"

"Not you…" I exhaled a weak breath. "The other voice."

"Jalo?" my eyes began to droop shut. "JALO!"

" You're not going to die. That's later on. Not here. Not now~"

It funny, you'd think blood wouldn't taste so sweet and yet so bitter. You wouldn't have thought that it would be so cold yet so warm in your mouth. You wouldn't have thought it would taste so much like a copper wire you held with your teeth because you working on a speeder bike. You wouldn't think it would feel so dry as it cracked on your lips and ear as the crimson red liquid dried as time wouldn't have thought it would almost feel refreshing on your skull as it trickled through your hair and onto your face.

I wouldn't have thought it would feel so bad or so good; the feeling of blood. It was trying to heal the wounds but only made things worse. It was trying. I guess that's what mattered. What made it so bad was how it showed your pain; your weakness.

"Padawan!" her voice was clearing up.I could hear the pleading in it with a trace of horror. "Please!"

"I-I…" I thought on what to say. "Is he...am I?...how's…"

"We have to get you to a doctor," she stated.

"Mmm...no," I said. "No- no doctor."

"Jalo, you're bleeding," her voice almost cracked. Almost. "You hit your head."

"I'm fine," I restricted the puke in my throat. "I promise, Master."

"What happened? What happened? Oh, by Force, what happened?" she shook her head.

"I don't know."

"Let's get you home."

But that was a lie. The home wasn't home as now it was broken like some glass; a large shard now missing.

I wanted to die. Oh, how I felt that death was tempting within the following rotations.

I never left my room; I never left the darkness.

"You killed him...you killed THEM…" I would repeat in my head over and over and over again and again as I sat in my room. "They're dead...you killed them...you killed them...dear Force you killed them…"

I wouldn't let anyone in. Cyla often checked on me as she stood outside my door, same with Onthant and Beepy. Strive was always kind enough to leave me some food at the door. I wondered why he didn't ask if I'm ok; as if he knew that asking me wasn't the best thing to do. I wonder how he knew. Who is his family anyways? Biologically? Where were they? What happened to them? What happened to him?

I didn't want to ask.

I wouldn't even let Onthant share our room anymore. And how selfish I was; like a baby. That was his father- his dad- who also had been slain. My selfishness didn't even let me consider him as one to be distressed by this; the death of our dad. He didn't get a room for the next couple rotations, he had a baby on the way, a mechanic shop to run, a slain father and his little brother didn't even bother to speak to him other than yelling "Go away!" everytime he tried to get in. What a brat I was.

"But I'M one who lost TWO dads.

I'm the one who's Master basically forced me into living a lie after she got pregnant!

I'm going to be the one who has to be an uncle! I'll probably have to take care of the stupid thing and postpone my Jedi training even more!

But I'm the one who KILLED my father! And I killed my dad by never telling anyone of that message!

I'm the one who should be feeling sorry! I'm the one who should be the one crying!"

Those were my thoughts during those days; and how stupid I was. I kept feeding myself these thoughts and purposely drowned in my own pity. I couldn't breathe through all the tears at some points; especially at night.

"Jalo, please," Cyla sighed as she stood on the other side of the door I had my back too. "I just want to talk, Padawan. Please."

"What do you want to talk about?" I sighed.

"You," Cyla spoke. And after a long pause: "It's been two rotations. Please just open the door."

I sighed. "Fine."

She opened the door and I stood in front of her. Her face hardly more than a shadow as the light behind her had cast a veil of darkness.

"Are you going to ask me if I'm ok or something?" I spat out the words.

"I know you're not, so what's the point of asking?" she stated. "No one would be ok. Not even the strongest person to exist would be ok. We all lost a loved one, and you had to watch it. "

"I don't want pity from you, Master."

"And so I will not give you any," she said. "Just a helping hand. May we sit?"

And so we sat in the hammock I usually slept in.

"This is my fault," I sighed. "He- he wouldn't have gotten killed if I had- If I-..."

"Padawan," she stopped me. "There is nothing we can do. There is no point in assigning blame to yourself; it helps nothing."

"But-"

"Would Canto want to see you like this?" she asked, a tone of seriousness to her voice as she looked at me. I didn't look back at her.

"I-"

"Hmm?"

A deep sigh escaped my mouth, " -"

"Nothing. But nothing."

"I killed MY FATHER," I sobbed all of a sudden. "I-I stabbed him in the heart! I KILLED HIM!"

I wrapped my arms around her and sobbed into her shoulder. My tears stained her shirt and crystallized on my face as they left my eyes. I could hardly breathe until Cyla lifted me up and looked straight at me; her eyes nowhere except but looking at me.

"A-am I going to the Dark side- for- for killing him?" I stuttered. "Am I-"

"No," she answered as she shook her head side to side. She seemed so focused. So calm.

"How do you know?"

"Because you are too strong to succumb to the Dark," she stated. "I know you better than you think, Padawan. And by what I know, you never will-"

Her sentence was interrupted and she gripped her stomach in pain and let out a small yelp of pain. I gasped and looked at her, asking if I could help.

"I-I'm fine, Padawan," she sighed out of her nose, suppressing the pain. "Just a really hard kick from the baby."

I didn't know what to do.

"You never even felt the baby," she realized. "Are you afraid to touch it?"

"Kinda," I admitted. "What if I hurt the baby? If I hurt you?"

"You won't," she promised. She gently grabbed my hand and placed it on her stomach.

There was something strange about it. It was like I could feel the baby through the Force without looking very hard for him. Almost like the baby was wanting to reach out towards me. It didn't even know me and it already trusted me. I remember during the first couple rotations of when Cyla was expecting and the baby only felt like a small twang in the Force. Now it was distinct; you could tell it's personality now through the Force.

Happy. It was happy. It was eager. He didn't know what the reason was to be eager, but boy was that baby eager through the Force. And strong.

"See?" Cyla stated. "The baby likes you."

"Why though?"

"Because he or she knows that you're gonna be a good uncle," she said. "And I know you're gonna be a great Jedi Knight one day as well as an uncle."

Oh little did she know...


	11. Chapter 10- I get one foot in the grave

When Cyla's water broke a couple rotations later, we didn't really know what to do. Strive was the first person to know her water broke as she was standing right next to him in the shop when it happened; Onthant and I soon rushing over to her. I am not proud to tell you that I was the first to panic… But that's beside the point. We were quick to get in the hover car and set course for the surface. The plan was for me to assist her into the Jedi Temple since her and I were the only ones allowed in. We couldn't go to a hospital anywhere else because we didn't have the credits so the Jedi Temple was the only medical care Cyla could get; even if it meant Onthant couldn't see the birth of his child.

That was supposed to be the plan. But plans don't always go so well, do they?

We were probably only a couple levels up when I saw a purple flash that jumped onto the hood of the hovercar,grabbed my throat and pushed us both out of the vehicle. We fell in a hard thump a good thirty, maybe forty, meters down onto the hard ground. A sharp crack was heard in my ribs and I let out a scream. The purple thing was on top of me now, both hands on my throat. I looked up and now could see my half-sister; she was filled to the brim with hatred.

"FIRST YOU LET MY MOTHER DIE AND THEN YOU KILL OUR FATHER?!" she screamed as my face turned blue. "WHAT KIND OF BROTHER ARE YOU?!"

I didn't even try to fight back. There was no point. She had the same strength Razo had when he was in his drunken rage. I knew there wasn't even a chance I'd win against her. When her hands finally released my throat, I didn't know whether to breath or not. She was gone, but I was afraid that she'd come back and choke me even more if I tried to breathe. I looked over to my side to see that Strive was actually the one who got her off me. He had body slammed her and now they were wrestling; Strive receiving multiple blows to the head.

My body rose up and I charged at Miri with my lightsaber still on my hip; forgetting I even had it. I came up from behind her and had her in a headlock just like I always did to Onthant when we wrestled. But this time I was out for blood. I refused to loosen my grip on her as she tried to pry my arms off her throat and she tried to throw me off her. She fell backward and slammed me once again on the ground, but I still kept my chokehold on her. It felt like fire in my right ankle as she lodged the knife she had on her belt into me. The knife went so far that it went in the front of my ankle and out the back. And HOLY FORCE DID IT 's when Onthant ran over to us and grabbed Miri by her throat and picked her up into the air. He slammed her into the ground with a brute force I didn't even know Onthant possessed. He neck let out an eerie snap and a final breath escaped her mouth. I looked over to where Strive was and saw the trandoshan named Snipe throw my friend a good few meters. A glow of green came out from nowhere and stabbed the trandoshan through the heart as Cyla thrusted it through his chest; her face dripping with sweat.

The next thing I remember is waking up to the sound of a baby crying in my left ear. A repetitive beep rang in my ear that matched my heart as it thumped in my chest. I turned to my left to see an exhausted Cyla laying in a medical bed, face soaked in sweat and tears, holding a small bundle of blue blankets. I had to blink as I saw Onthant and Strive standing by her bedside. Strive had a wrap if bandages on his head.

"Onthant?" I asked as I looked over at him. I must have been drugged, I figured, I never felt this kind of tired.

My family all turned to me and smiled. Onthant and Strive came over to the side of the bed and Onthant was the first to speak.

"Hey, Blondie."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Your foot had to be amputated," I heard a female voice. I soon saw Doctor Rig Nema come over to us all. "Your brother here saved your life. You lost a lot of blood, and your blood is extremely rare. He donated enough for you to survive the implant of your new foot."

"Are- are we at the Jedi Temple?"

"Yes," the doctor confirmed. "The only reason these two were allowed in was that the rodian had a head injury and it's not the Jedi way to turn away the injured and sick. The reason your brother was let in was that you needed blood."

"But...we're not biological-"

"Yes you are," Cyla stopped me. "We ran a test after finding out you two have the same type of blood. You're definitely brothers biologically."

"Half-brothers," Rig Nema corrected.

My head was running wild. "But- who…"

"Jalo, did you ever find out what your biological mom's name was?" Onthant asked.

I had to think for a moment. "Tartha- I think."

"Was her last name Hobla by any chance?" Onthant asked with a sigh.

"So...you really are my brother? Biologically?"

"Yeah," Onthant chuckled. I looked up at him and saw his face still had the remnants of tears left behind. I wouldn't blame him.

I turned my head back to resting position and just tried to let it all sink in. It couldn't sink in. I could almost feel the pressure of the world laying on my chest as I stared at the ceiling. When I finally looked at my foot that was no more than wires and metal, I didn't even know what to do but cry. It wasn't a full-on sob; just a few tears that escaped.

"Hey, you wanna say hello to Caleb?" Cyla asked as she held the bundle of blankets to her chest still.

"Caleb?" I asked.

"Yeah, turns out it was a boy," Strive smiled. "I got to pick out the name."

"Why Caleb though?" I asked.

Strive just shrugged and the doctor sighed.

The doctor sighed,"He hit his head pretty hard."

"You wanna hold the baby?" Cyla asked.

I nodded and Cyla gave the baby to Onthant and my brother gave him to me.

It was smaller than what I thought it would be. His eyes looked up at me. Teal. They were a bright was a mixture of Cyla's green eyes and Onthant's blue eyes. He had a bit of hair too. It was dark brown like Cyla's. It was strange, to say the least. In the Force, there's something strange about a baby. It doesn't have a personality as well defined as one who is grown. Another strange thing was how much he trusted those around him without knowing who they were. Not even knowing their names. And he seemed like he had known him forever as I held him; not even fussing a bit.

"Hey, little guy," I smiled as I looked at him. "So,you're little Caleb Dume, huh? You look just like your mom."

I got to go home about two days after I got my new foot at the Jedi Temple. During that time, Strive and Onthant spent days repairing projects brought in, baby-proofing our apartment, and they'd call Cyla and me once and awhile. Cyla and Caleb got to go home with me the same day I was released. It was weird having a cybernetic foot. I couldn't feel it, but I could move it. You could cut it off and I'd not feel a thing. I still needed a little work on motor control with it though. I could walk and stand a bit, but not well.

It was only a few rotations until I noticed Caleb could recognize each of our voices. He also cried. A LOT. He'd cry just to cry I think. Even after he was well-fed, had a clean diaper, and had his little-stuffed animal- he'd still cry. None of us got to sleep for a good long time after he was born.

But...I guess I actually loved him like a little brother?

I don't know; he just kinda grew on me. Some nights, I'd actually have to hold him in my arms until he went to sleep. One downside to that was that he'd drool. He also refused to go to sleep unless Cyla or I sang to Onthant or Strive tried to sing to him they'd make things was something about him trusting me so easily that made me so...attached to him. I knew that I wasn't supposed to develop attachments if I were to be a Jedi- but I never listened so well, now did I?

It was only a couple weeks later that I was yelling in opposition as I was being told I was to be sent away for a while. The Jedi Council had decided that I wasn't getting the proper amount of training now that Cyla had to care for Caleb. The Council decided that I'd be trained in the Jedi Temple for about a month or two while Cyla took care of the baby in the Under City. I was only allowed to bring a couple possessions, including my lightsaber, some clothes, and my hair comb.

During my stay at the Jedi Temple, I was under the tutelage of Master Tanza; Cyla's former Master-who I had met the first day I had met Cyla. My first day was fairly adventurous as it just happened to be the day the Yinchorri decided to raid the Jedi Temple. The Masters had corralled most of the Padawans to hide away as soon as word of the attack reached us. I and the Other Padawans waited patiently until the smoke eerie sentence boomed through the corridors of the Jedi Padawans.

"Find the young ones first, kill all the Jedi children!"

They never found us.

I later heard whispers from the other Padawans that two Jedi had died. Master Tieren Nie-Tan and Jedi Knight Jude Rozess. Master Tieren was a part of Jedi High Council who had discussed whether I'd be able to join the Order or not a couple years before. It was weird thinking how he had died so quickly. I had only seen him twice in my entire life; when I was first brought to the Temple and when I attended his funeral that took place the next rotation after the attack.

At the funeral, I was completely embarrassed as I was escorted out because of my crying. I wasn't crying because of these strangers' deaths; I was crying on how my dad never got a funeral. We never really got closure. He was cremated and we were given the ashes. For Razo, the police took care of his body; so they say. I don't know and nor do I care.

I continued my training at the Temple. And boy, did the Masters shake their heads when I was near. Just to sum up one incident I'll just say that I forgot that walking around with just a pair of boxers was not acceptable when I woke up late for one of my lessons with the other Padawans. One moment when it was even worse was when I was riding on a cart through the Temple halls.

A friend I had made was a male togruta about my age named...um...his name was...oh! I remember now! Orus! His name was Orus! He was in most of my academic classes and spent a lot of time sparring with me. He and I were helping deliver some Holocrons to Master Nu on carts. When we were returning from our trip, we decided to ride the cart down the hall as there was no one else present. I sat on the cart as he pushed it and soon jumped on it with me. Huh...I guess he really was the first friend I had that was my age now thinking of it...But, back to the point we go. At the end of the hall, we soon spotted Master Yoda and Master Billaba talking to each other as they walked. Thank the Force that Orus wasn't that heavy or he woulda crushed me as we both toppled out of the cart. The cart fell over and laid on its side. The Masters looked to us and we scrambled to our feet. Master Billaba looked amused as she had a slight smile.

"Padawans."

"Masters!" Orus and I put on a big grin as we tried to look as innocent as possible.

"Having fun I see," Master Billaba commented.

"Yeah...uh…" where the only things my fellow Padawan and I could come up with.

"Aren't you that boy who got a new cybernetic foot? Dume's Padawan?"Master Billaba smiled.

"Yes, Master," I nodded.

" Synonymous to her personality you are," Master Yoda nodded.

"How so?" I asked. "I'm not that smart."

"A little bit of a troublemaker you are. Can tell, I can," Master Yoda spoke with a little amusement. "Your Master, you are just like."

"Cyla?" I asked. "I don't remember her being too troublemaking."

As I'm saying I'm starting to realize how stupid I was back then. I just realized this. Oh, my Force. She HAD A FREAKING KID AND HUSBAND. Oh, and did I mention the time she punched a guy in the bar while she was on a date with my brother? For the love of Force, I was so stupid. Why did I even think she actually went by the rules?

Wait- I know why. She was intelligent and a certain kind of wise that made you think she knew everything in the universe. She could answer any math question you threw at her, she'd known so much history of the galaxy it made my head spin, and she thought about things before she spoke about them.

"You two should head back," Master Billaba advised. "Master Tanza may get worried about you, Hikra."

One thing I should mention before I leave you off in the middle of my story of a lifetime- is how I actually felt as if I never really was going to become a Jedi Knight. Since my training was so different, I thought of myself lesser than an average Jedi Padawan. I remember daydreaming about my future and being an adult. Instead of being one of those monks on the Surface Layer, I'd dreamed of being a protector for those under the feet of those on the Surface. I knew that the Council wouldn't want a kid like me in their Temple anyway, so why not just be an Unorthodox Jedi in the Underworld? I'd serve more use there than just meditating on the Surface. I wanted to tell Cyla; little did I know that she already knew.


	12. Chapter 11- I go home

When the Jedi Council decided that I could go back to train with Cyla in the Under City, Master Tanza escorted me as she felt it'd be safer for me to be accompanied by an adult. Plus- I think Master Tanza wanted to see Cyla and her new baby. When we got back to my old apartment, we were greeted by an eyebrow-raising scene.

Caleb had grown now-halfway to the age of one- and boy he could cry his eyes out. Onthant was trying to lull the baby to sleep in his arms as he cried at full force. Strive dashed through the house with a pail and threw it on a fire that was emitting from where the oven was. As he was about to throw the bucket of water, you could hear Cyla yell:

"STRIVE, NO! THAT WILL ONLY-"

Poof!

And great flames erupted with Caleb screaming even louder now. Cyla soon ran off while Strive stayed to wave his hands in front of the fire as a way to keep down the flames(not really well though). She soon came back with our fire extinguisher and put out the flames. She flipped her hair away from her face and was wide-eyed to see Master Tanza and me.

"Master! Jalo!" she smiled and rushed over to Tanza and me; wrapping me in a hug.

It was weird to see her without her Jedi Robes on during the day. Sure, she rarely wore them while she was pregnant as they barely fit towards the end of her pregnancy. But, it was still weird to see that she had just regular citizen's clothes on and not have a large belly. It was like she was a commoner rather than a Jedi.

She ruffled my hair as she released me from the hug and looked so happy to see me.

"I heard you had quite an adventure at the Temple. How was your time at the Temple?"

"It was great, Cyla," I smiled and turned to the female nautolan. "Master Tanza helped a lot on my meditation."

"I see Caleb has grown," Tanza smiled as she looked over to Onthant who still held the crying baby. She looked back at Cyla with a smile. "Have I not taught you how to quell a crying infant?"

Cyla shook her head, "No. We never really encountered many infants while I was your Padawan, Master."

Tanza walked over to Onthant and looked at the crying baby. Onthant carefully handed the baby to the Jedi after she asked to see him. As she held the baby, she placed her first two fingers on Caleb's forehead. The baby immediately allayed and he opened his eyes to look with curiosity at the Jedi.

Cyla was quick to walk over to see with her own eyes the still Cyla was wide-eyed, she asked, "How did you do that?"

"You still have much to learn, Dume," she smiled. "We do this all the time with babies in the Temple. It's allowing their minds to feel the Force's calming properties."

"Does that mean Caleb's Force-sensitive too?" Strive asked. "Is that Force stuff genetic?"

"We do not know," Master Tanza said to the rodian. "He hasn't shown signs yet of Force-sensitivity. It's hard to tell with some infants."

"So...how did that fire start?" I asked. "And where's Beepy?"

"We were using the oven to keep the apartment warm and the fire started. R3 is out looking for a cheap heater for us," Onthant told. "We haven't been able to pay for natural gas for a while now."

"You are having troubles with money?" Tanza asked.

"Yeah; we only had us three work in the shop for the last while and one of always had to watch over the baby," Strive gestured to himself, Cyla, and Onthant. "Creds have been tight."

"It seems as if you need an extra pair of hands," Master Tanza commented. "I can request to stay down here with you all. I can help with Jalo's training and even help with your mechanic's shop if you would like."

"We'd love the help. That is very kind of you...um…" Onthant struggled with words. "Jedi? Master? Or just Tanza?"

"You can call me just Tanza," she smiled.

And so she stayed with us for a good while. She often taught me different lightsaber techniques, the history of Jedi, and other things. She really did help Cyla with my training; talking about half of my training. While the adults worked, I was often in charge of watching over Caleb. As she stayed, I noticed Cyla and Onthant never talked to each other more than absolutely necessary. They used to sleep in the same bed, but saw it was inappropriate as they didn't want Tanza to know about their relationship. Being the wing-man I was to my brother, I'd sometimes occupy Tanza with something stupid so Onthant and Cyla could leave the house or shop and actually talk to each other.

I could nearly see the sweat drip down Onthant's forehead when Tanza mentioned how Caleb looked a little like Onthant.

As she held the sleeping baby, Tanza said, "He's so peaceful when he's asleep. He also snores a little; kinda like you, Onthant."

Onthant froze and looked to me from across the common room as if he was looking for me to distract the Jedi.

"I'm really happy Cyla has someone to have someone like you to be like a dad to the baby. I don't think she'd survive with someone like you to step up to the plate and be like a father," she commented.

"Yeah- yeah…" Onthant sputtered out. "Thanks."

"Master," I called out. "How are babies made?"

I legitimately couldn't think of a better question. Oh, I knew how they were made; there was literally a- ahem- "gentlemen's club" just down the street from our apartment. I lived on the streets for a while in this part of the Under City! I saw some things…

And Onthant may or may not have had a few magazines in his room that I may or may not have snuck a few looks at. But, hey, I won't say either way.

"Um...well...Cyla should be able to explain that very well to you seeing that she actually made one," Tanza smiled. She called, "Cyla! Your Padawan has a few questions for you!"

"Yes, Master?" Cyla walked into the room.

"Jalo wants to know where babies come from," Master Tanza explained and gestured to me. "I figured you'd be able to explain it best as you actually made a baby."

And that's why Cyla had to explain to me how Caleb was made. She and Onthant sat me down in my room a little bit after that and explained to me everything. I wanted to rip my ears off, to say the least.

A while later, I remembered this one time Cyla nearly had a heart attack. It's funny looking back at it, but at the moment it was terrifying for everyone involved. This moment is when Caleb had snatched my lightsaber from my belt when no one was looking. Caleb had started to snatch random things from each of us; especially the Holocron from Cyla. But this time, it was my lightsaber. He laughed as he held it, prompting me to turn around as he never laughed for no reason. I let out a high pitched scream as I saw he held it in his hands.

Cyla looked over at us and her face went white as she saw me slowly approach the baby as I didn't want him to push the button his chubby little hand was hovering over.

He didn't die though, so that's good. What wasn't good was that I was grounded for a few rotations to teach me a lesson on how my lightsaber should never leave my side; especially being so easily stolen that it could be taken by an infant with ease.

Eventually, Cyla was able to go back up to the surface with Tanza and helped once more in the Jedi Archives. Tanza didn't return; I only saw her once in a while since. The first time Cyla returned to work was proven to be difficult, but we managed. Caleb sure did miss his mother as he cried almost the entire day. It was in the evening when I was having to lull him to sleep for a nap. I cradled him in my arms as I sat on the couch in our apartment and sang to him a song Cyla taught me.

 _ **You thought I was weak...dead**_

 _ **You saw me as too small...to put up a fight**_

 _ **But you were so wrong**_

 _ **I'm stronger than you know**_

 _ **You think I'm broken**_

 _ **You think I'm weak**_

 _ **That my**_ words've _ **been spoken**_

 _ **You must not think I'm smart…**_

 _ **But I'm stronger than you know**_

 _ **I'm stronger than you know**_

 _ **I'm faster than you think**_

 _ **I'm better than you know**_

 _ **Oh…**_

 _ **I can run the extra mile**_

 _ **I can climb the next mountain**_

 _ **I can even fake a smile**_

 _ **Oh…**_

 _ **Sometimes I don't believe in myself**_

 _ **I think, sometimes, I'm not good enough**_

 _ **But I can show you I'm tough**_

 _ **You think I'm broken**_

 _ **You think I'm weak**_

 _ **That my**_ words've _ **been spoken**_

 _ **You must not think I'm smart…**_

 _ **But I'm stronger than you know**_

 _ **I can the extra mile**_

 _ **I can climb the next mountain**_

 _ **I can even fake a smile**_

 _ **I'm stronger than you know**_

 _ **Faster than you think**_

 _ **Better than you ever thought**_

 _ **...I'm stronger than you know**_

She taught me this song even before Caleb was born. It was used once when I got sick and I couldn't sleep. It proved most useful for lulling Caleb to sleep. She said she remembered it being taught to her when she was a very small child; before the Jedi Temple took her in. I only assume that she learned it when she was a slave on Jakku or even before that possibly- if she even was anything before that. I don't know- so I don't ask.

"You got him to go to sleep?" I heard a voice. I looked up to see my Master in her Jedi robes standing at the door.

"Yeah," I nodded as I still held the baby in my arms.

"Well now, aren't you the best little uncle?" she smiled.

She sat next to me and looked at the infant; lightly stroking his brown hair. She looked up at me and sighed, her smile faded now to a face of compunction.

"I'm sorry about all of this," she shook her head. "You should have to be in this position; taking care of your Jedi Master's baby. I'm sorry about all this."

"It's alright, Master," I condoned. "I kinda like being an uncle. Lil Caleb already likes me."

"You're such a good Padawan," she smiled. "I don't know what I did to deserve you all."


	13. Chapter 12- Order 66

Our family was a happy one. Sure, we were not rich, we struggled to pay bills, and we lost some family along the way- but we were happy. When we lost Canto, it was hard to cope. Not with just the fact he died, but trying to fill the void left in our hearts where he resided. It was hard to cope with trying to manage without him. Caleb came along and it felt like he had brought some life back into the family; a distraction for our hearts from mourning over death to be occupied by the celebration of birth. He was about one and a half when we found out he'd be taken from us too. He was Force-sensitive. He picked up Cyla's Holocron with the Force when no one was looking and activated it just like I had when I first met Cyla. The Holocron recorded the interaction of him with the Holocron and Cyla and Onthant coming to see what was going on.

"Onthant! Get over here!" Cyla called as she held the baby and Holocron in the center of our common room.

At this point in his life, he was his full height of a little over 1.9. His beard lined his entire chin and he had his hair in a ponytail almost all the time. I was only 1.57 meters at this time and cut my hair short; excluding my Padawan braid which I had kept. I was about sixteen.

"What?" He called as he left our room he and I were both in; playing cards. I remember it so well. He went into the common room and I shuffled the cards. I heard his voice from the other room seconds later. "Hey, look who turned out to be like his mommy."

A moment passed and I heard Cyla; dread mixed with a fake expression of happiness."Y-You're Force-sensitive...Just like your mommy, huh, Caleb?"

I was frozen as I still sat in my room.

"Hey, there still might be a chance that it just malfunctioned. Maybe he's not Force-sensitive."

"No," Cyla responded with a shaky voice. " It wouldn't malfunction like this. He's gonna have to be given to the Jedi Order."

"We can always hide his sensitivity," Onthant suggested. "He could live here with me and you down here. Be a happy, little family."

I stood up and walked out to the common room, stopping my feet a few meters away from the three.

Cyla shook her head, she denied, "No, they'd figure it out."

Onthant let out a depressed sigh as he rubbed Cyla's shoulder to comfort her. He leaned over to the infant and lightly kissed Caleb's forehead and then lightly hugged his wife. "It'll be alright."

"Caleb's…" I didn't even want to finish the sentence.

Over the next few days, we didn't tell anyone other than Strive about the news. But, as time passed and Caleb reached the age of two, his Force-sensitivity was getting dangerous. One time, he snatched a lighter out of Strive's pocket with the Force. Another, he snatched Cyla's lightsaber from her belt while she was a good two meters away from him.

It's funny, I remember the first time he walked on his own when he was just over a year old and we all thought it was so great to see him grow.I remember I held his arms so carefully and stepped so precariously so my cybernetic foot didn't hurt him when I first taught him to walk.I remember laughing with joy when he took his first steps without my help. I remember loving to see him grow. Now we saw other things grow within him that could kill him one day. Onthant and Cyla knew that we all couldn't handle a Force-sensitive baby like Caleb without him getting seriously hurt. Possibly even killed. One time, we had to deal with TWO Force-sensitive babies because one had followed Cyla through the Under City. It was a little togruta who was about the age of three or four. Her name? Ahsoka Tano.

Cyla had sensed that someone had been following her, and at the train, she found out who exactly was her little stalker. She was all ready to the point of being well too far from the Temple to just turn around and bring her back. She contacted the Council and they advised that we were to keep the toddler until the next day when Cyla would return to the Temple. Let's just say that she gave all of us at least three heart attacks. One was when she opened a window with the Force, climbed out our apartment window, and fell into a taxi that was flying below. Strive was the one to follow it on the ground and catch her when she fell from the taxi. Thankfully, we all survived and Ahsoka went back to the Temple the next day.

Seeing how Ahsoka almost died under our care, we all came to decision that Caleb would be safer at the Temple.

Like I said, it's not hard saying goodbye to someone you love. What's hard is learning to live without them and always trying to fill the void, the emptiness left in your heart when they go. When we had to give up Caleb, it was horrible. I remember when Cyla and I were the ones to walk him up to the Temple.I held his one hand and Cyla held the other hand of her baby, now the age of two, as Caleb walked.

He looked up at me, "This place is huge. How am I gonna find you, Jawo?"

"You're not going to, bud," I said. "I'm not gonna see ya for a really long time."

"How long?" he asked. "A rotation?Two?"

"Longer than that, hun," Cyla sighed. We all stopped and Cyla got on her knee to look Caleb in the eye. "You're gonna be mommy's little soldier, okay? I'm not gonna see you for a very, very, long time. Neither is Daddy, Strive, or even Uncle Jalo. You're gonna be a Jedi just like me and Uncle Jalo."

"What?" his lip quivered and we knew that he was about to cry. "I'm- I'm-"

"Caleb," I got on my knee too and looked him in the eyes. "Please. We love you but this is what's best for you. You're gonna become a Jedi just like Mommy. We love you. That's why we have to give you to the Jedi."

"WHAT?" he screamed and started bawling out his eyes. "I DON'T WANNA GO! I DON'T WANNA GO!"

He screamed and cried as we stood outside of the Temple. I picked him up and carried him in my arms wrapped around my neck and his legs wrapped around my torso as he still sobbed; saying that he didn't wanna leave. Cyla walked next to us and we went up to the Temple doors where Master Depa Billaba met us. She saw the crying child and petted his hair as he still clung to my shirt. I could tell she was using the Force to lull his crying to a soft weep. I handed him to the Jedi Master and Caleb fell asleep. Cyla and I turned away and neither of us wanted to turn back. We never did.

Through the first year, while he was gone, I noticed the consumption of alcohol rose in our family. Especially from Onthant. He was a heartbroken drunk. Strive began to drink; but barely. Cyla never took much alcohol even after she had to give up her baby. She knew that she had a job to do; to be a Master for me and to teach me to become a Jedi.

I hated it. I hated it all.

The Council still had us go on missions, Cyla and I. Some even off planet. Ryloth? Naboo?Alderaan? Yep. Even Kashyyyk we went to. They were humanitarian missions; either to help with the government handing out food to the poor, helping the Wookies rebuild after a horrible forest fire, helping find survivors after a quake on Ryloth, or anything to help out the people. Once we started to get in more and more dangerous situations that one would think would be impossible to get out of, the crazier Cyla's ideas got. Force only knows how they worked, but they did. These ideas being jumping off a cliff to get away from droids, jumping out of a burning gunship in the heart of a fleet of Separatists, and more. I don't know how we survived, but we did. Somehow my Master knew exactly how much crazy was needed to survive. Huh...I guess there was method in her madness when I think of it.

A few years before the beginning of the Clone Wars, I graduated to the title of Jedi Knight and I lost my Padawan braid at the age of twenty-five. When the Clone Wars began, Cyla was one of the first Jedi to object to it; saying that Jedi weren't generals, they were peacekeepers. I was completely on her side, saying how crazy it was for the Jedi to be in the center of the war when we could instead be helping those who couldn't help themselves. Seeing that this was wrong, Cyla and I decided to quit the Jedi Order. It's actually kinda funny; the moment that Cyla told the Council she was quitting. She and I were in the middle of the circle of Jedi Masters when we told them. After we had expressed our concerns about the war, the Council dismissed us. As we were about to walk away, Cyla looked back and spoke one last time.

"By the way, I know EXACTLY who Caleb Dume's father 's Onthant; my husband. We were drunk on our wedding night and Caleb came into the universe," she smiled. "Hope you teach my son good and he doesn't have to become another pawn in your war."

I couldn't contain my laughter as she said that. I had been waiting for that my entire life as a Jedi.

"That makes me Caleb's uncle," I added with a large grin. "Bye."

Through the years of the Clone Wars, Cyla and I were recruited by the police force to help with the crime in the Under City. We were sent on countless missions to investigate crimes and we patrolled the streets and stopped any crime we saw. We weren't official police; more of ex-Jedi protectors that acted like police. We got paid very well and lived like normal citizens; maybe a little better.I was in my twenties and loved life. I even grew a goatee on my chin to help with the babes.

Now I'm gonna tell you a story about some things in my life that I'm not proud of. That I wish had never occurred. I did things that serves the right for any sane man to shoot me right here and now and it is justified for what I have done in my life. I don't think I have ever earned back the right to have a good life after this point on in my life. I shouldn't be alive now at this age. If I had thought that I had lost too much of my family; I had no idea what was to happen at the end of the Clone Wars. Order 66.

It was a day that Cyla and I had off from being on the police force. Onthant, Strive, Cyla, and I decided to go to the bar for a drink. And at the good ol' age of twenty-eight, I loved to have a good few drinks with my brother, former Jedi Master, and my best friend. At this time, they were all thirty-four and our age difference didn't seem so grand as it had when I was young. Instead of parents, the felt like siblings now. I could drink with them, I could play cards with them and live with them like they were my equals. Onthant would often be my wingman when I tried to flirt with any ladies I found attractive. Sometimes, he was actually helpful(though, I didn't keep any woman for more than one rotation). This day, though, it was more of me just wanting to be with my family. When I felt something off in the Force, I excused myself from our booth filled with laughing and went outside. I soon found a twi'lek mother holding her young son at her side in fear as a human man held a blaster at both of them, screaming at them to give him their money.

I slowly approached from the back of the man holding the blaster. "Sorry, sir, but do you not realize that you are breaking the law?"

As he turned around and put his blaster on my chest, he sneered, "And what's it to you? Keep moving, bud, or I'll shoot your brains out if you got any."

"You see, now I can't do that," I shrugged. "You just pulled a blaster out on a woman and child and now you are threatening a Jedi Knight."

"Ooo a Jedi," the man mocked. "What are you gonna do? Do a magic trick on me-"

I got out my lightsaber and swung the green blade to cut through the middle of the blaster held to my chest. I put my hand out and used the Force to push the man with great speed into a wall so he fell unconscious. The mother of the child smiled and thanked me in twi'leki. I responded in her language, telling them to go along and keep safe. They went off and I smiled, happy to have helped; keeping my ignited lightsaber at my side.

I turned around when I heard the rustle of armor and saw about six clones in armor with blasters in hand. It was normal to have clones as reinforcement when either Cyla and I caught a criminal, so I thought none of it.

"Hey, you guys got here fast," I remarked with a smile. "I didn't even have to call. Now all you guys gotta do is cuff the guy-"

The rose their blasters and aimed them right at me. "Freeze, Jedi!"

"Guys, what the heck?" I chuckled, thinking this all was a joke. "It's me. I'm on your side."

"Good soldiers follow orders," one said.

"Execute Order 66," another said.

"What?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "Order sixty-"

One shot his blaster right at my head. I deflected it, but then the other five started shooting and I began to have a bit of difficulty. When three more clones came up and started shooting, then I had a really bad problem. I got hit in the head and fell unconscious. The next thing I saw was blurred images of me getting dragged down a hall lined with doors with heavy duty locks- prison cells.

I was thrown into one and I laid there on the cold ground. I tried to move my arms, only to find out that they were bound by cuffs in front of me.I restrained myself from vomiting because my head hurt so much. I didn't know what was going on, where I was, or what happened. The nausea I had was near the equivalent of a hangover;

 _"Onthant...Cyla...Strive….where are they? Are they okay?"_

I was kept in this cell for Force only knows how long until I actually saw a sign of other life. I tray of food was slid through a slot on the bottom of the door to the cell. It was putrid, but it was all I had to eat. There was no sunlight or noise. Ever. There was only me, a toilet, and my thoughts. The light that was in the cell was red lights that came from the grid under the floor.

"LET ME OUT!" I bellowed from inside the cell. I don't know how long I screamed, but I screamed every day.

I felt like a caged animal. I went insane. Jalo? Who's that? I didn't know him. I clawed at the door at times, just wanting to escape.I wanted to know what was going on. I didn't know why those clones turned on me. I didn't know who captured me. I didn't know where my family was. I wanted out.

My dreams...they were filled with visions of horrible things. I felt Razo beating me again with a beer bottle, I relived Miri choking the life out of me, I felt Canto's life leave the world, I relived things that I never even wanted to happen in the first place.

Then I began to feel things. I couldn't tell what was real or not. I heard Cyla's screams of agony. I heard Onthant's howls of rage. I heard Strive's weeping. I even saw Caleb, now grown to about the age of fourteen, screaming. I saw Razo sitting next to me in my cell, not having aged a day. I felt him pinning me to the wall as he choked all the air out of me until I passed out. I saw Cyla standing across from me in the cell, bloodied and bruised. She was screaming in pain as she fell to the ground and continued to scream. I couldn't even help her. She just continued to scream. I continued to scream.

What was real? What was fake? Was I fake? Did I exist? Was I even a human? No. I was an animal. I wanted to be let go. I couldn't stand still. I shook violently throughout the day. My breaths were that of a starving predator; ready to kill for what I wanted.

Foam near spilled out of my mouth when the door of my cage opened and light poured in. I lunged at the figure dressed in white armor and clawed at his throat with my hands. He wasn't a clone. His helmet was different. Another one of his kind was behind me, shooting at me now. I lunged at him too. I killed him too. Snapped both of their necks with my bare hands.

I didn't know I had that kind of strength. That kind of rage. That kind of savagery.

I didn't know what I was doing. These weren't my hands. These weren't my thoughts. This wasn't my body. This wasn't me.

My throat was being crushed soon after and I was lifted into the air. I saw a dark figure stand in front of me, holding me up in the air with the Force. He wore a black mask, his breaths were that of a machine, and his hatred could be felt in the Force from light years away. He wasn't human, but more of a machine.

"Your hatred and fear amuse me," he said. "You'd serve well to the Empire."

 _"Empire? What Empire?"_ I wondered.

This is the point where things got interesting for me. For the next Force knows how long, I was strapped to an interrogation table; the Sith Lord trying to get any information he could out of me. The IT-O droid became my worst nightmare. The floating droid would inject this...this _venom_ into me that just burned like acid and then would proceed to either crush my most sensitive parts of my body or burn my skin. The force it used to inflict pain was minimal, but my pain threshold was gone. The mind-probing was absolutely exhausting. I was taught by Cyla how to resist probes during my Padawans years, but that was almost a decade before this. The sessions would go on for a full hour every day.

I didn't even know what he was trying to get out of me. What was I supposed to spill?

"Why are you doing this?" I barked one day at the Sith Lord. "What do you GAIN?! I have nothing you want! NOTHING!"

"I want to know where others like you are," Vader spoke. "Tell me, where are the remaining Jedi?"

"Remaining?! What are you talking about? There are thousands! More than just one man can kill!"

"They are all dead," he stated. "The Empire wiped them out but a few like yourself and whoever you're hiding."

"Who would I be hiding?" I sneered.

"Your Jedi Master," he stated. He held his hand out and I could feel my mind crumbling; as if he were rummaging his hand through every memory in my mind and each crumbling at his touch. "Cyla Dume. Where is she?"

"We're not Jedi anymore," I beseeched. "Please! We left the Order at the start of the Clone Wars! She's not a Jedi! I'm not a Jedi! Just leave her alone!"

"Where is she?"

"I don't know!" I implored. "She could be dead! She could be hiding! I don't know! I have nothing you want!"

"That is where you are wrong," he objected. "You hold much potential to serve your Dark Side resides within you."

"What Emperor?! What Empire?! What is all this?!" I howled in frustration.

And it got even more interesting from there. I was thrown into a group of other people, eight others to be exact, and we were each given a red lightsaber and black armor. Most of the others in this group chose a double-bladed lightsaber that spun. I decided to keep it simple and went with a standard blade, just like my green one.

happened to my lightsaber?Who took it? Where is it?When did it get lost? Why can I not remember?

I had no idea where my lightsaber went. Maybe, I thought, Darth Vader had it.

Our training was first under the Emperor himself. He was ruthless, to say the least. I remember a female mirialan being at the end of Force-lightning because he didn't approve of the way she gave mercy to her opponent. She lost her voice because of the direct impact it had on her throat; she had to get a replacement of cybernetics so she could talk. Her name was never said; her eventually being ranked as Seventh Sister. Later, a tall man with blue skin had his arm cut off by Vader. He was Sixth Brother. I once again got my right foot cut off, but it was only the cybernetics that got damaged and was later replaced.

There was this pau'an who outranked us all. He was cold, ruthless, and powerful. He was ranked Grand Inquisitor. There was a human woman with dark and curly hair as Third Sister, her twin sister who was a little taller and had straight hair was Fourth Sister. A man of an unknown species and spoke few words was Fifth Brother, I already mentioned Sixth Brother and Seventh Sister, Eighth Brother was a terrelian jango jumper. This large woman, whose species I didn't know of, was Ninth Sister. She was taller than the rest of us, had orange fur, and two white horns on her chin. She was ranked lowest as she didn't have a strong Force-connection and her lightsaber abilities were weak. All of their eyes turned to another color than what was obviously their natural color. Their eyes were either pale or red and yellow. For some reason, I didn't give in and I was the oddball with blue eyes.

How did I get ranked Second Brother? you may ask.

I was ruthless. Every one of them I thought of as an enemy; I pretended they were the criminals I fought back on Coruscant with Cyla. And, I noticed her crazy ideas did imbed within me. I remember fighting the woman with curly brown hair and she had me pinned against a wall with her lightsaber near my throat. I took my lightsaber away from the deadlock the blades were in and threw it in the air.

Her red eyes squinted as she stared at me. Probably thinking I was stupid or suicidal. The maroon blade I threw into the air soon sliced a pipe that ran through the ceiling just above our heads. A stream of hot steam soon sprayed out of it right above her head. She noticed this and leaped back. I dove to the side and caught my lightsaber just before it hit the ground. The steam must have gotten into her one eye as she seemed to hold the irritated eye in her hand. I took this advantage and swung my lightsaber at her, the both of us once again locking blades. She fell backward and I pinned her to the ground with my foot on her chest and my lightsaber over her throat. She tried to lift me off her but ultimately failed. She looked up at me with her scarlet colored eyes and could see that she knew she was defeated, but still had a flame in her eyes that wanted her to win. I paused for a moment; just to look. I never got to see her for long amounts of time; most of the time I had seen her was when her blades were spinning in my face as I blocked them. I never got to see her when she was still until then. I never noticed before how her lips were a soft pink and she had light brown highlights in her dark hair.

"Cute…" I simpered.

Once I realized that I said that out loud, I froze. I prayed no one else heard that. I knew she definitely heard it as she smirked at me with her one eyebrow cocked, giving me a look I was taken aback by.

We were soon ordered to go back to our quarters by Darth Vader, him now being in charge of our training as the Emperor had more important things to then placed the position of power to the Grand Inquisitor as Vader had to leave for the moment. As all of us trekked back to our quarters, I noticed the girl with curly hair whom I had called 'cute' walked close to me as we both were at the back of the trail of Inquisitors. As I noticed she passed her door, I turned to her just as I was about to enter my quarters. She looked behind her to check that all the others had gone into their quarters then looked back at me. I gave her an inquisitive look as she stood there before me. She gripped my upper shoulder and pushed me into the wall and pinned me. I was wide-eyed at this sudden movement as she had one hand on my shoulder now and the other had her hand pointing at the center of my chest.

"What's your game?" she inquired with a harsh voice. "You're still not on the Dark Side and yet you can pin me down. You haven't turned and yet Lord Vader hasn't killed you. Then...then you call me cute. What's your game?"

I was frozen and said nothing, still amazed she was talking to me. She had never talked to me before.

Her red eyes squinted and studied me from head to toe. She locked eyes with me again and I couldn't help but smile when she gazed into my eyes.

"Why do...do you actually- You like me!" she shook her head and she knitted her eyebrows. "Why?"

I shrugged my shoulders as she kept me pinned there, not knowing what would be the right answer. I went with my gut and said, "You're just a pretty sight for sore eyes."

"And you're gonna be dead," she shook her head, her dark curls shaking with the motion. "Better if you get those thoughts out of your head before you get yourself killed."

"Why would you care if I'm dead or alive?"

Her lips slightly creased at the corner of her mouth as she was toying with a thought. "Because it'd be a shame to lose a pretty face like yours." Her one hand left my chest and found my goatee. "You got a nice little beard going on here. Cute."

"So…" I smirked. "What's your name?"

"Suna," she took her hand away from my face. "Your's?'

"Jalo."

She smiled as she chuckled, "You got pretty blue eyes. I hope you don't lose them soon."

"What?" I questioned. She left me there and went to her quarters.

I soon figured out what she meant in the coming days. I was one of the later additions to the Inquisitors, I guess. That's why my eyes were still blue as Vader really never got time to make that different. I was thrown into another cell and was once again given daily torture sessions then nightly ones too. He filled my head with nightmares and the days with pain. The Grand Inquisitor was soon put in charge of my torture sessions. He wasn't any better of a joy then Vader.

"You refuse to feel the power of the Dark Side," the pau'an spoke. "Why do you restrain yourself from such power? Such strength? "

I kept my mouth shut because I knew I'd get myself killed if I spoke.

"Tell me, Hikra," he spoke. "Why do you think you're here?"

"I don't know," my breath was shaky as I refrained from snapping at him.

"Oh, but you do," he paced the floor at a sluggish speed. "It was your job once before. On Coruscant. Both you and your Master."

"What?" I was confused.

"You and your Master, you both were warriors. Both tasked to keep the streets clean of criminals," he looked at me and stopped his pace. "Aren't I right?"

"So what does that have to do with anything?" I barked.

"Everything," he stated. "Don't you see? The Inquisitorius is a force for criminals to run in fear of. We are just like you and your Master."

"You hunt Jedi," I hissed in pain. "We were nothing like you."

"Ah, and that's where you are ignorant, Hirka," he chuckled, amused. "The Jedi are the criminals. First, they refused to let you train in their Temple as they just didn't want to deal with a poor street boy. They just pawned you off on your Master. They forced you and your Master to slave away to their every command while they sat up in their precious Temple. The Jedi refused to deal with the very gang who killed your adoptive father and forced you, as a _child_ , to kill the leader of Black Heth. Your father, nonetheless. They took your own nephew from you, didn't they? They split your family up. Then, they had the audacity to go to war against the concerns of countless Jedi. Word has it that your nephew was one of the little soldier Jedi Padawan the Council put in the war."

"Caleb?" I sighed, wanting to break down knowing this. Knowing that he was probably dead.

"See? The putrid Jedi are the reason that the Empire had to take over. To rid of the filthy Order who did nothing but make others do their bidding. Those doing the bidding being like you and your Master."

He did have a point….

"What is the plan then?" I sighed as I gave in and looked to the pau'an. "What am I supposed to do?"

A stomach-churning smile grew across his face, bearing his pointy fang-like teeth. I saw his hand summon the IT-O droid and the dreaded orb floated towards me with its needle of a syringe filled with some kind of liquid pointed at me.

Now, remember when I freaked out because of that tiny needle in the hands of that nice Jedi doctor?

Keep in mind that this needle was as big as my index finger and was connected to a droid that would torture me for hours on end.

Yeah.

That happened.

Once I felt the needle go deep into the side of my neck, a rush of liquid filled my veins. The restraints on the interrogation table released me and I fell to my knees. I placed both my hands on the ground and began to vomit as I continued to feel the warm liquid fill every centimeter of my body. My muscles tensed up and then trembled, tensed up, then trembled, and it went around and around. I couldn't see anymore, the room around me was spinning around me. I collapsed onto my side and rolled onto my back, looking up to the Grand Inquisitor.

"You'll thank me when you wake."


	14. Chapter 13-Second Brother

So...I guess I should continue to tell you this. It'd be wrong to leave you off here- to kill the story. Insight, I wish that this was the moment of my death. I wish the Inquisitor had just killed me then and there- it would've saved a lot of hurt. But, alas, my departure from this thing we called life is for another day. For another time. For another story. Maybe you'll be there when I die, maybe I'll die as an estranged friend to you, or maybe you'd care. I'd hate for you to see the day I die if you did care- you'd be the only one to do so. I wouldn't care.

To get back to the story, I guess we go to where I left you off. The day after to be more exact. Well, I guess I couldn't start again any sooner as I was unconscious most of the time in between. I couldn't tell you much about memories that weren't made.

When I woke, I was surprised when I looked into the mirror. My eyes were brown. Dark brown. The color of mud. My face seemed to be more sunken in; it was as if I aged at least five or ten years overnight. I looked around to see myself back in the quarters I was assigned a while back when I first started my Inquisitorius training. A smile slithered across my face as I looked back at my new eye color.

"I will thank ya, just later," I chuckled as I thought of the Inquisitor's last words to me.

I strode out of my quarters and into the hall; now seeing things a little different. It was strange to think of it as I look back on it all. I saw that I owed my life to the Empire and those who didn't comply with my thinkings deserved to die. These thoughts weren't organic; they flowed through my mind against the grain. It was like a had a little chip placed in my mind that produced these thoughts then left the rest of my brain to just go with them. I only thought of how I'd serve to my Emperor and nothing more. It was strange.

It was mere weeks later that I was starting to be sent onto missions. I was assigned to missions with Third and Fourth Sister as my companions. We always split into groups within the Inquisitorius(with the exclusion of Grand Inquisitor who always went solo). Fifth Brother, Sixth Brother, and Seventh Sister always went together. Though, I heard that Sixth Brother was later killed during the uprising of Raada. Eighth Brother did once and awhile go on missions with Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister but didn't get along too well unless absolutely necessary. I'm not too sure about Ninth Sister.

Over the time we worked together, I noticed some profound differences between Third and Fourth Sister; despite being twins. Other than the hair and the small height difference, they looked identical. But, their personalities almost couldn't be more polar to each other. As I had learned that Third Sister real name was Suna Styles, Suna told me that her twin was named Jewel Styles. Jewel, she was the strong and silent type who reminded me of Fifth Brother. She rarely talked- I could hardly get a word out of her. Suna, on the other hand, she was...more than a pretty face. She was crazy, brilliant, and authoritative. Force help any low-ranking Imperial officer that dare speak ill of her. I saw her snap the necks of a couple. But, hey, who hasn't? I know I at least killed twelve Imperial officers during my time as an Inquisitor.

Suna and I shared our first kiss on a Star Destroyer in the dining hall. Inquisitors were allowed to eat in their cabins or the dining hall with other Imperial dining hall was completely empty; I guess no one wants to eat next to a guy who could -and would- impale you if you looked at him wrong. Hey, who needed them anyway?

I noticed it was her when she walked into the dining hall due to her Force-presence. She came over and sat across from me at the table I sat at.

"Lonely much, Second Brother?" she smiled.

I replied, "You don't have to address me by Second brother everytime we meet, Third Sister."

"Second Brother, if you don't want me addressing you by Second Brother, what do you want me to call you?"

I sighed and glared up at her, "Just don't. I know this is how you get information out of people. You trick them."

"And what am I trying to coerce you to tell me?" she said in a sly voice as she shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know," I sighed and went back to eating.

"You and I, we've been good friends now for almost half a year, no?"

"Comrades," I corrected as I refused to look at her.

Don't get me wrong, I did like her at this time. It's just...I knew if I were to even look at her too long, I'd have feelings again. Whatever little joy she brought to my heart was wrong by the Empire's was all I was supposed to feel- to fuel me and my powers and to rid the galaxy of the Jedi. The little knot I had in my heart for her was wrong and I knew it. I thought it'd just be best for me to discard it by just ignoring her.

"And I have told you my name at birth, right? And my sister's? And you have told me yours?"

"What are you trying to get at here, Third Sister?" I looked up at her finally. I froze for only a moment as I locked eyes with her.

"You can call me Suna in private," she told. "I am asking permission to call you by your actual name."

"The name we are given within our Brother and Sisterhood is our true name," I reminded with a sigh. "But, in private, you may call me…"

For the love of Force, I had forgotten my name. I was near the age of twenty-eight or twenty-nine and I had forgotten my own name. This was most likely because I hadn't been called by that name for so long. Not since Order 66. It felt wrong for me to use it now. Jalo was the guy who'd spend his days working as a peacekeeper in the lower levels of Coruscant with his Jedi Master by his side. He was the guy who'd risk his life to keep others safe from harm. He'd have a good laugh with his brother and best friend. He'd risk it all for his family. He loved his family. He loved life. He was under the Light.

Second Brother...he was another being. He'd kill anyone who dared to disrespect the Empire in all its glory. He'd kill a few stray Jedi and their Padawans who had survived Order 66 here and there. He'd go into his cabin at night and not think of a single thing but himself and the Empire. He was sinful. He was under the Dark Side. He was me. I was him. I resent still having a piece of him in me still- the anger I feel in the spur of a moment. I don't like thinking that he's still in me. But, now that I think about it, he always was.

"Jalo," I sighed. "My name was once Jalo Hikra."

"I know this may seem personal, but what family did you have before the Empire?" she inquired. "I've told you of my sister. We both grew up in the Jedi Order until the about you?"

"I had a brother," I stated and looked back down to the table. "I lived with my Master, brother, and my best friend."

"You and your Master didn't live in the Temple?"

"No," I shook my head. "She married my brother, actually. Had a kid- he was taken by the wretched Jedi. We quit the Order as the Clone Wars began." I shook my hand and near crushed my fork with anger as it rushed through my body. "Those d*mn Jedi treated me and my Master like trash. They took my nephew and probably got him killed in the war...he was just a kid...They even forced me to kill my took everything from me They're the reason I'm here- to get rid of their kind."

"Aren't we all?" she stated.

I looked back at her and slightly smirked, amused by her moxie. It wasn't orthodox to talk the way she did to her superiors(and by "orthodox", I mean that if you were to step out of ranks that you'd be killed). She was daring to say the least. I liked it.

"You have that look in your eyes again, Jalo," she chuckled. "The look you gave me back at the Inquisitorius training."

I didn't know what came over me, but I went for it. I leaned over the table and pressed my lips against hers; my hand on the side of her head and my fingers intertwined with her curly hair.

 _"Soft…"_ was my first thought.

It was only a brief moment until I pulled away. She was stunned and so was I.

"I - I'm so sorry, I should have-"

And, to my surprise, she kissed me right back before I could finish my sentence.

That wasn't the last time our lips met. Whenever we got even a moment away from others and away from a mission, we'd share an intimate moment. Suna was always the one to initiate it while I just went along with it. We did eventually tell Fourth Sister...well she figured it out when she caught us in one of these moments. She promised to keep it all a secret.

I didn't like that; her having such power over me. Despite me being Second brother, Fourth Sister could have easily got me killed at any time she pleased. All I had to do was upset her and then I was dead via Vader. She'd just have to open her mouth about me and Suna- and bam! I'm dead. She and I weren't the best of friends in the first place; I could just tolerate her as we worked together. Now, with this information, it was like I was walking on glass. I'd noticed the glares she'd give me whenever I held Suna's hand, wrapped my arm around her shoulder, or even looked at her twin sister when no one else was around. Fourth Sister and I would have our discrepancies when discussing our course of actions regarding missions, but I was the one in charge within the Empire. Behind the curtain, she had me by the throat.

I remember one day when an Imperial officer almost found out about me and Suna. I woke up, my head feeling like it was about to explode, my eyes barely keeping open, and the room felt like it was at the whims of a rough sea as I just floated along. I forced myself to sit up and scramble my way out of bed, my legs tangled in sheets. I must have had a worse hangover than usual because I couldn't think right at all. I walked out with only a pair of pants and some shoes on. Then again- those were the only articles of my clothing and armor I could find.

When I finally got to the door and opened it, I saw a man standing in front of me. An ISB agent to be exact. He had red hair and mutton chops on his face- I remember that. His name I believe was among the lines of Agent Kallus. Maybe? Yeah..? I think...Yes. It's him.

"Second Brother…" he was fairly confused on how to handle the situation. "I was just coming to tell you that we will be arriving on Lothal within the next rotation now...And might I ask where are your clothes? and why are you in Third Sister's quarter-"

"Do you-" I paused for a second as I recalled on how to speak. "Really wanna ask that?"

"No…" I could tell he must have been a fairly new recruit to the Empire- must have just gotten promoted to his rank. Though, he still had the accent so commonly well spread amongst Imperials. I even caught onto the accent- I still have a little in my voice to this day.

"I recommend that you go back to your station, Agent," I glared at him.

I developed this stare that seemed to make those I didn't like run away. It was kinda like the glare Cyla used to give me when I misbehaved as a Padawan, but hers wasn't filled with hate. Mine was filled with so much anger...and hate...and suffering. But that's all I knew then. All I knew was how to hate and feel anger towards all… except for Suna. She was an exception. The ONLY exception.

"Will do." His eyes were filled with fear and he scurried back down the hall from which he came.

I let out a deep sigh and looked back into the cabin I was once in a slumber in. The dots soon connected and a ball of regret made its way into my stomach, or maybe that was the alcohol I had indulged in the previous night. I looked at the watch still attached to my wrist and saw that it was earlier than the time I was required to wake up for my duties. I made my way over to the bed that still held Suna in a cocoon of blankets. I sat down next to her and figured she must have been awake as she groaned softly under her breath, turning amongst the sheets to face me.

"Morning, sunshine," I said with a smile- followed by me kissing the top of her head.

She sat up and leaned her back on the wall as she sat next to me, clutching the blanket up to her chest. Her hair parted as she ran her hand through her dark curls and looked at me.

"How much did I drink last night, Jay?"

She always called me that in private- shortening my name. Sometimes "Lo" was what she called me when she was mad. My full name rarely.

"I think too much for either of us to bear," I admitted.

"Mmmm..." she pondered. "So that's why…"

"Yeah," I confirmed softly.

There was a pause between us for a moment before she spoke once more.

"You wanna get married...ya know...in secret?"

"What?" What the heck? Who just asks that out of the blue? Right after- Ya know what? I'm not gonna finish that sentence. But, you get the idea. I froze and my hands got sweaty as the question ran around in my head. Why would she want that? Did she not know that we'd be killed if anyone found out? What is she thinking? How much booze did she have? How much did I have?

"Not officially… Just you and me saying in private that we are," she shrugged her shoulders.

"Why?" I inquired.

"For a sense of normality," she explained. "It feels wrong when you and I do this kinda thing out of wedlock...It'd just be nice if we just said between us two that we were…"

"Uh...sure," the words came out of my mouth with a stutter. "I guess we're 'married' then."

She leaned over and kissed me for just a moment and sighed, "Let's just hope nothing bad comes from this."

"What could go wrong?" I shrugged and chuckled.

Idiot.

We were given a mission on Lothal in the Capital City; there were no reports of Jedi on Lothal at this time but the Capital City was rioting beyond control. The Empire figured to send a small group of Inquisitors to help strike fear into the hearts of Lothal's citizen if they stepped out of line. The governor of Lothal was now hunted by the Empire; accused of raising a small militia against the Empire. He was thrown out of office and the Empire now had control of the system. The people saw this as an act of tyranny and rose up against us. I remember having researched rebellion of Lothal's people and often hearing one pair of voices who'd always broadcast their voices to the people of Lothal; later learning their names were Mira and Ephraim Bridger. Though, I never cared to look into much more than that. I was more focused on taking out the militia the former governor had raised.

It was Empire day; marking one year since the Empire had taken over the galaxy. Marking a year since I'd met Suna. A year since I'd been an Inquisitor. A year since I had last seen my Master. A year since I'd seen my best friend. A year since I'd seen my brother. A year since I'd seen myself.

We were on the Star Destroyer, orbiting Lothal when Suna requested a moment from me and her sister; I could tell something was wrong.

"I'm pregnant."

This is when it started to go downhill. Fourth Sister started screaming at me and her twin; saying how we put everyone in danger and how selfish and stupid we were. In truth, she was right. We were stupid.

"Can you get terminated?" Fourth Sister inquired with a bark in her voice. "Just get the pregnancy terminated and everything will be fine."

"How?" I argued. "We can't go to the medic- they'd report to Lord Vader and we'll all be dead."

"I won't."

"Yes you would," Suna argued. "You kept this thing between Jalo and I a secret. You're a part of this."

"This is all your fault!" Fourth Sister snapped as she glared with hate in her eyes at me.

"Mine?!" I objected. "It takes two to make a kid! She took as much part in it as I did!"

"Can we get back to the subject?"Suna snapped. "Blaming each other has no help."

"You're not finishing the mission. I'm not putting you in danger as long as you carry that child," Fourth Sister ordered.

"I don't know what you're talking about FOURTH Sister," Suna barked. "I give you orders."

"Talk reason into her, Second Brother!"

"Fine," I sighed. "Third Sister, I order you to step back from this operation. I don't want that child, and you, in danger."

"We live in danger constantly, Second Brother!" Third Sister snapped at me. "Just because-"

"I am your superior and I order you to step back from the mission!" I rose my voice to a volume I never really used Third or Fourth Sister- only using that much anger in my voice when I got livid with lower Imperial officers or I was in charge of a prisoner. Suna seemed surprised at this as she became quiet and stared at me with a look of confusion and hurt. I sighed and stated, "You will stand guard with a battalion of troopers- keep guard of the base while Fourth Sister and I carry out the mission. That's an order."

Now, remember how Suna and I had literally gotten married just twenty-four hours prior? Yeah, I think she was already considering a divorce.

Third Sister followed orders and Fourth Sister and I soon were on the surface of Lothal. We were given reports of a Jedi being spotted and the former governor was hiding out near our location; reports suggesting that this Jedi was with the militia that had been raised. As it was Empire day, the Empire saw it fit to have a celebration of our glorious Empire- the Inquisitors were in charge of bringing the main attraction. An execution. It was short notice and I wasn't happy about it but I dare not complained-I liked my head to be attached to my body.

Fourth Sister was sent to hunt down the Jedi while I went with a battalion of Stormtroopers to hunt down the ex-governor. I don't really remember his name though; it has been so long since I have heard it. It's been a little over a decade and a half since I heard that governor's name.

He was hiding in an abandoned home with a small group of people(farmers, market men, shopkeepers, etcetera) with blasters and small bombs who were ready to fight the Empire head-on to the death.

Oh, how stupid…

They may have had families and yet they were so willing to get themselves killed in the fight against us. They could have gone home to their spouses and maybe children and lived a life with them, with their families; but yet they'd rather stupid, I thought.

I was the one who killed the most of this small militia; the troopers I had under my command maybe hitting one or two rebels. We only kept one man alive. The governor. He was still shooting as all his comrades fell and had this look in his eye I can't describe without describing an animal. A cornered animal. He took one last shot at me and I slashed his blaster in half. He tried to run but was stopped when I grabbed him with the Force. We cuffed him and I was the one to keep hold of him while I held him at the end of my lightsaber.

Just like old times- but on opposite sides.

He was displayed like a circus attraction to the Capital city- on his knees, head looking woefully at his people, and his arms tied behind his back. Fourth Sister and I were supposed to perform the execution, but Fourth Sister was nowhere to be found. I patiently waited as I listed to Minister Maketh Tua as she went on and on about the glorious Empire. She. Wouldn't. Shut. Up.

I kept my red lightsaber by the former governor's neck through the time that she talked, to make sure he wouldn't try anything. I soon was tired of waiting for my comrade to show up, so I commanded a trooper to go and find Fourth Sister. He didn't need to, though. The whole crowd could now see her.

A blue blade clashed with Fourth Sister's red blade as the two were on the top of a building right next to the crowd. That was the Jedi. He was a male togruta- he was tall and wore a dark cloak. I recognized immediately that he was using Form IV; a form I relied heavily on when I was a Jedi Padawan. I later went to Form III as it helped with blaster fire. I was amazed how this Jedi was able to block both of the spinning blades from Fourth Sister with so much speed. I decided to assist Fourth Sister and ran towards the action.

But, alas, I was too late. By the time I got there, Fourth Sister was slashed across the chest with the blue blade. Her body fell off the building so quietly.

She went so quiet.

The Jedi leaped down as he saw me and stood back a few meters while he held up his one free hand.

"You?" he seemed to be surprised.

"You recognize me, Orus?"

Now, if you recall, my togruta friend was last mentioned in the previous chapter of my life. Then, we were two kids riding a cart down the hall of the Jedi Temple. At this moment, we were trying to kill each other. My blade red- his blue.

"Long time no see."

His strikes were powerful; a little more difficult of an adversary than what I had usually dealt with. His dodges were smooth and graceful. Just like what I once was. Now, my strikes were that of a stab. My dodges were sharp and my stance was square.

I remember the look in his eyes... by Force, the look in his eyes... was that of a man that was lost. Not in spirit or in the physical- but that of a confused man. Thinking about it, I believe he was confused about me. Where I had gone wrong on the road. In my heart, I thought I had only gone right. I felt rage that he would dare take pity on me. The nerve! I should have pitied him! He was the weak one! The one of a religion that was near extinct! I was that of a new galaxy! A new order! Younger! More powerful!

I struck him down.

He didn't go quietly.

I left both the body of my former friend and Fourth Sister there on the ground and marched my way through the crowd. Each citizen clutched their loved ones near and made a path for me out of fear. Good, I thought.

I mounted the stage, the Minister made one last speech and executed the man with his arms tied behind his back. A few citizens puked, one or two fainted, and a couple screamed in horror. That's what was to be expected- not many can stomach watching a man's head being cut off.

When I returned to Suna and we talked in private, I almost lost my head. Suna was vivid- no that's not a strong enough word. OUTRAGED. That's what she was. She was filled with so much hate as she screamed about the death of her dead sister; blaming it on me.

You're the higher ranked Inquisitor, you should have gone for the Jedi!

You could have caught her when she fell!

You didn't even try to save her!

You never liked her anyway! That's why you killed her!

You killed my sister!

We screamed bloody murder at each other, having rage fill our hearts. Angry tears streamed out of her eyes as she screamed at me. She hated the very thought of me. She wanted me dead. We pushed and shoved each other as we fought. Venom filled our words as we spat them at each other. I don't remember much of what said. I just remember one thing clearly. Rage.

"This is not my fault!" I shouted.

"It's all your fault!" she roared. "You got me pregnant and then you killed my sister! Everything is your fault!"

"Hey, that child is just as much mine as yours," I barked. "We made it together."

"But I have to carry it!" she screamed. "And I can't even have it terminated!"

"Then what are you going to do, huh?! Just blame it on me some more or something! That seems to be helping the situation!"

"I just want you to die!"

"Then why don't you kill me then?!"

"Because this child needs a father that's alive!" she screamed. "But I guess it'd be better off without a murderer of a father!"

"I'm the murderer?! You snapped the neck of a Stormtrooper because he mixed you and Fourth Sister up!"

"You killed your own father!"

Rage took over my body. I could only see red as she said that. I grabbed her wrist out of anger and screamed with pure rage at her as I held her close.

"HE WASN'T MY DAD!"

"BUT HE WAS STILL YOUR FATHER AND YOU KILLED HIM JUST LIKE YOU DID MY SISTER!"

She threw her head and her helmet crashed against my skull; forcing me to stumble back and let her go.

"I better leave before you kill your own wife and child too," she stated with a cold stare.

"The Empire will hunt you down wherever you go. Where do you plan to leave to?"

"Anywhere you're not around."


	15. Chapter 14- Reunion

*****Warning! Some swearing is to come up in this chapter!*****

* * *

The Empire never found her afterword. Then again, they never looked. I told them that she had been killed by some rebels when she had abandoned her post and that the body couldn't be found. Both Third Sister and Fourth Sister were deemed as dishonorable and weak within the Inquisitorius to have been killed by a Jedi and a few stray rebels. From that point on in my career as an Inquisitor, I worked alone. The Grand Inquisitor would accompany me only if there were reports of a Jedi and these occasions were seldom. He and I were the highest ranks, so we were given first dibs on the Jedi we hunted- behind Lord Vader, of course

But, life wasn't good for me.

I consumed much more alcohol than recommended for one to keep alive for a while. Then again- that was the whole point. After Suna left, I felt my whole world crashing down. The pain didn't set in until a few weeks after she left. I began to realize that I was a father of a child I didn't even know the name of. I realized that Suna would have to raise that child on her own in this cruel galaxy, and I wasn't there.

I saw no point in my life anymore.

I was constantly filled with anger and sorrow as I threw tantrums and fits at random times. I left a few dents in the walls of my cabins from punching them out of pure rage as angry tears made their way down my face. I'd lean my back against the wall and slide down until a sat on the cold, hard, floor as I still sobbed; making situations worse as I tried to hold back the tears.

This is a story about a man who lost everything. Not a fairytale in which everything would go right and the hero would be happy to the end of his days. This is a man who was once a street rat that became a Jedi Knight with a couple flaws, now a villain, knocked-up his psychotic "wife", killed his sister-in-law and his old friend, then was left by his pregnant "wife", and wanted his life to end. He tried to end it himself- but never got the courage to go through with it. He's about forty- five now and still doesn't feel like he really wants to live. Even though at that age, it seems that things got a bit better for him.

Pills slid down his throat with a dose of alcohol to swallow them after the day's' work ended and he'd use some extra credits to purchase such things. During the worst of it, he'd have his lightsaber hilt pointed at his stomach and hover his finger over the button to activate it with angry tears still running like a river down his face. He'd never press it, though. He wanted to. He sure wanted to.

The worst part about it all is that he didn't care if he were to get killed. He'd fly in his TIE fighter as he chased down some thieves and pirates and not care if he'd get hit and die. Sometimes, his mind would go blank- feeling like this fuzzy gray feeling in his head- and just sit there in battle. His thumbs would press the triggers to shoot, but he'd rarely wanted to move if someone were shooting at his TIE. The thought of, "Finally, I'll get to die." ran through his head at this point.

It's really a shame- Second Brother was no older than twenty-nine, and all through the age of thirty he wanted to die. He could have had a whole life ahead of him: a wife, a kid, a family. No. That was not to be so. Not for Second Brother. Not for me.

I can't even count the number of times they sent me on missions, how many rebels and pirates I had slain, how many stray Jedi I hunted down. It's all a big blur until I was given this one mission that changed everything. Back to Coruscant. Back to Slum District G-17. Where I grew up in a mechanic's shop. It was a year after Suna left. Two years after Order 66. Sixteen years since Caleb was born and I lost my foot. Eighteen years since I had met Cyla. Nineteen years since I had first met Onthant and Canto. Thirty years since I had been born.

There was a report of a Jedi being spotted down there. Vader was busy on the other side of the galaxy and Grand Inquisitor had his dealings with some rebels a few star systems away. So, I got first dibs. I snatched the report from the officer handing it to me and took my personal, Inquisitorius TIE to Coruscant. I decided to lay low the first couple of rotations I was back; blending in with the crowd.

Truth be told, I took that mission with the full knowledge that the Jedi would most likely be Cyla. Maybe I wanted to see her; have a piece of my old life. Little did I realize that this meant I'd have to kill her too.

That was a mistake. Such a big mistake.

I was in a quiet bar- a rare thing in this slum. I had a shot glass in my hand and my mask covering my face. I covered my Imperial markings on my armor as I wanted to draw as little attention to me as possible. The room seemed to be that of a sluggish speed; the music from the band was soft and woeful, the fellow drinkers were quiet, few words were murmured in the air, and the room was enlightened by dark turquoise colored light. My fingers went in a wave-like motion as they rhythmically taped the bar's wooden surface in a silent manner. Something was in the air- feeling like the name of an old smell you can't put your finger on. Something poignant. Something sweet in a sense. Something strong... sometimes deadly. Intoxicating, almost; giving the false sense of calmness. Dizziness.

Oil.

A mechanic's loyal companion.

A large man sat in the seat just after the one I sat in. He reeked of the stench of oil. His placed some credits down on the bar and the bartender gave him a drink that was the twin of my own. I looked through my mask to see a man with brown hair combed back into a ponytail and a beard to go with it. His eyes matching the color of mine- well...the ones I had before I turned.

"You look like you had a rough day."

I was startled by his sudden words breaking the silence."What?"

"Ah...ya just give off that vibe. You seem like you had it rough," he spoke. It had been so long since I heard his voice. It felt different. "I'm guessing from that helmet of yours and ya armor that you're a bounty hunter. Pickings dry or something?"

"Somewhat," I replied with a sigh. Though I could hear his voice, mine was distorted behind my mask. "How's life been treating you?"

"Not … as well as I'd like it to," I could tell he was nervous. His hand ran through his hair and his voice had that tone. "I just have some family issues as of now."

"Let me guess: wife givin' ya trouble," the bartender chuckled, sarcasm running deep in his voice. "Ah, if only eh, Onnie? That girl you got's a darling. Where is Cyla, anyhow?Haven't seen her for a while."

He shook his head, "She can't drink now, even a beer."

"Oh?"

"Pregnant."

My glass almost cracked I was so rattled by the news. It hit me like a blaster shot in the side of the head.

"You got her pregnant again?" the bartender asked. "Man, the last time I saw you guys with a bun in the oven was over fifteen or sixteen years ago."

"You got kids?" I managed to speak, trying to keep my cover. The mask over my face.

"Yeah. The last one was a boy and he was-" he let out a deep sigh. "I'm not sure what happened to him after the Empire took over."

"You guys know the gender for this little one now?" the bartender asked, now taking away Onthant's already empty glass and refilling it.

"It's a girl," Onthant said. "You know Cyla- if she feels like it's gonna be a boy it's gonna be a boy. If she says it's gonna be a girl- well I'm gonna put money on me having a daughter."

"Got a name for her?"

"Syla," Onthant nodded and took a swig of the spirit in his hand. "Just like what we were gonna name the first one if it had been a 's happy that we're gonna name her something that meant a lot to all of us; even before...ya know what happened to Jalo...it'd mean a lot to him."

I remembered I had a mission to do for the Empire at this moment. For some reason, I felt anger that there was going to be another spawn of Onthant and Cyla; forcing that little baby to live a horrid life because her mom was a Jedi. It was bad enough for Caleb to have to be taken away because of his Force-sensitivity he got from his mom _before_ the Empire. Now, they'd have a daughter _during_ the Empire who'd be more than likely killed because of her Jedi ancestors. Or worse. Be like me.

The bartender smirked and poured a shot for Onthant.

"This one's on the house."

Onthant took the glass and swirled the golden liquid around. He let out a sigh and slightly rose it, declaring in a melancholic tone of voice, "To my brother. Force rest that bastard's soul wherever he is." and drank it. When the bartender asked if he needed anything else, Onthant waved the offer off- saying he had enough.

I felt so angry. How dare he drink to my name! How dare he bring up the past! I was there to kill him and his wife!

"Hikra?"

Onthant almost jumped out of his skin when I said my own last name. His eyes were wide as he stared in shock at me.

"How- how do you know..?"

I grabbed my lightsaber off my belt and ignited the red blade as I got off of my stool. Onthant reached for his blaster on his hip, but never pulled it out of his holster. The bartender had his blaster pointed at my head as I held the end of my lightsaber to the tip of Onthant's nose.

"Derl, put the blaster down," Onthant looked to the bartender. "You got a wife and kids. Best if not both of our wives have to mourn."

"Why the hell is there an Inquisitor in my bar?!" he barked as he looked at me.

"He knows why," I told as I looked at Onthant.

"You- you knew my brother!" he stuttered in horror. "What'd you do to him?!"

"Step outside," I ordered.

He glanced at the bartender one last time before he followed my orders. I took him outside with my lightsaber to his back and led him to a deserted alleyway. He turned around to face me, keeping his hands up to each side of his chest, palms facing forward.

"If your gonna kill me, at least tell me what happened to my brother. How did you know him?" he let out a deep sigh.

I bit the inside of my mouth in uncertainty. A deep sigh made its way through me and I hit the button on the side of my mask.

I swear on my soul that I could see Onthant's entire body freeze like a statue. Motionless. Cold. Lifeless. Helpless.

"You f***ing moron," I shook my head. "You idiot."

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Onthant roared in almost a cry. "I thought you were dead! Now you're working with the Empire?!"

"How could you think it was a good idea to have another kid?!" I screamed. "Do you not realize that highly trained Inquisitors like me are being sent out through the galaxy to hunt down those like your wife! I was literally sent here to kill her! Your daughter may even have a worse fate if she even gets to be born! Are you stupid?!"

"You're working with the Empire, eh? The same people who forced your family into hiding?!Who probably killed Caleb?!"

"I NEVER TOUCHED CALEB!" I roared. There was a silence between us for a moment. I spoke again in a softer voice. "I never saw him. There's no report of his death. Caleb Dume is missing."

He struggled for words as tears began to form and spill out of his eyes, "So...what are you going to do? Kill your brother, Master, and your unborn niece?How about you kill Strive too, huh?"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" I shouted like a little child, just with more rage and strength. "I'm trying to help you, you moron!"

"How are trying to help?! By killing my wife?!"

"Listen," I growled in a low voice. "That baby is more than likely going to be Force-sensitive and another Inquisitor, or the Sith Lord ruling the galaxy, is going to either kill that child or force her to be an Inquisitor like me. I don't want that to happen."

"Why are you trying to help?"

"Look, I just don't want that kid to be like me. Get her out of this galaxy. There's this one planet- in the milky way galaxy. You're able to take a ship, and the Empire has this strange ban on traveling there. You guys would be able to live like citizens there if you really try and raise the child. I don't know much about the planet, but it's your best bet. It's called Earth. All population is human, you'd blend right in."

"How do I not know that this is a trap?" Onthant snapped. "You're working for the Empire. I know they must've done somethin' to ya. Just look at yourself."

"DO YOU EVER SHUT UP AND LISTEN?" I yelled. "I am trying to save the rest of the family! I am REALLY sticking my neck out for you if you haven't noticed! If I get caught saying any of this to you, I'm dead!"

"Then why don't you just quit the Empire?"

"It doesn't work like that, you idiot," I barked. "If I so much as say my Master's name wrong, he'll kill me! He cut off my foot for tripping! Imagine what he'd do if he found out that I am helping a Jedi escape! Or if I quit! I'd get my head chopped off!"

With a deep sigh, Onthant stated, "I really wish that I coulda helped you."

"I AM STRONG ENOUGH TO TAKE CARE OF MYSELF!"

"Why are you getting so angry at me?!" Onthant questioned.

"You always thought I was weaker than you when we were younger! Just because you're taller, it doesn't make you stronger!"

"Alright, Blondie," he sneered. "You're stronger."

"Fight me."

"What?"

"Come on, let's go," I deactivated my lightsaber. "Hand-to-hand. One-on-one. No Force tricks."

"Yeah right," he scoffed. "You'll kill me with that lightsaber of yours."

"No, I won't!" I snapped. "Why don't you trust me?"

"YOU JUST TRIED TO KILL ME!"

I threw down my lightsaber and lunged at him, throwing a punch to his stomach. He sustained the punch and threw a punch at my head in reprisal. The fight just escalated from there to where I had Onthant in a choke hold. And not the brotherly type where the victim could breathe even a little.

We were grown men fighting like children.

Idiots.

When I heard the activation of a lightsaber behind me, I let go of him and turned around to see a woman. She wore the clothes of a regular citizen and her brown hair was in a bun on the back of her head while her green eyes glared at me. Her green lightsaber to the side of her.

"My former Master," I chuckled. I reached my hand out to grab my fallen lightsaber on the ground with the Force. I activated the crimson blade and could see the horror on Cyla's face. "We meet again."

She shook her head in disbelief as she struggled to say the word, "J- Jalo?"

"Second Brother, now."

"They- they… turned you. To the Dark side," she could hardly stand the thought of it. "Jalo...I'm so sorry. I- I-"

"You did nothing but keep me in a life of lies during my Padawan years, Cyla," I barked. "This was bound to happen."

"I don't want to fight you," she stated. "But I'm not even sure that this even is you."

"Oh, this is me, alright," I stated. I sighed and changed the subject. "Look, I was sent to kill or capture you. But, I found out that you were pregnant once again. So, I'm reconsidering on whether or not to kill or capture you."

"How- how did you know that I was…" she glared at Onthant and raised her eyebrow. "Really?"

"I'm imagining that this one's also a drunken accident?" I chuckled.

"So, because of your future niece, you actually are turning humane?" Cyla squinted her eyes, toying with some idea of hers.

"Maybe," I shrugged. "I just really don't want that kid to be like me."

"She won't be," Cyla assured.

"Look, just listen to me," I stated. "There's this planet in the milky way that I think would be the best option for you. The highest concentration of humans known. Not as many people as Coruscant, but the population is 100% human. The Empire has strict bans on its military forces going there- but loose ones on civilians."

"Are you talking about Earth?" Cyla narrowed her eyes in confusion. "That place is almost a death trap for Jedi. No Jedi has come back alive from there. It does something to the midichlorians in us. Something on that planet isn't right."

"The planet also nullifies the Force-user's presence," I stated. "I couldn't even sense you if we were standing a meter next to each other. No one would find you there."

"Why are you trying to help?" Cyla inquired. "You're with the Empire. You're here to kill me. Your Master."

"Because I feel bad," I stated. "That poor child is going to have a hell of a life ahead of her and I'm trying to make it a little better."

"I still don't believe you," she shook her head in disbelief. "I really really want to. But...I can sense it. You've changed so much. You're not my Padawan. You are the pawn of Sith."

"I AM NOT A PAWN!" I felt infuriated that she dared say that about me.

"Padawan," she harshly snapped. Just like the old days. "I thought you were grown enough to keep your anger under control. Don't let your anger take over you like a child."

"Oh, I'm the child here?" I questioned with sarcasm in my voice. "You're the one who got drunk and had a kid while still under the Jedi Order. And then, you go and do it again sixteen years later!"

"Jalo," she harshened her voice. "I don't know what they did to you, but I know this isn't you. The Empire is playing you."

"And it's going to kill you," I stated. "I'd rather be on the side that doesn't have to cower away and hide in this slum. You've been here this entire time? Just hiding away from the galaxy that we once protected?"

"No," she told. "We've been searching for Caleb when we can through the galaxy."

"He's probably a hideaway or a pirate by now," I sneered. "Probably under a fake name. And why would he come back to you? He doesn't even remember any of us. We may as well be strangers now. We don't even know what he looks like."

"At least I have hope," she sighed. "I guess I must have left that out of your training."

"Your teachings were very incomplete," I huffed. "I've learned so much more from the Sith Lord and this Empire."

Cyla shook her head as she looked at me. I had never seen her so sullen or disappointed. Just like the look Orus gave me back on Lothal before I killed him.

"Just go," she couldn't stand to look at me much longer. "Just go."

"Don't you at least want to see what they've taught me?" I lightly chuckled as I waved my red lightsaber. "I've learned a bit more in the lightsaber category."

She got down in a ready stance and held her lightsaber in front of her. "I don't want to fight my Padawan."

"You won't," I smiled. "You'll be fighting Second Brother."

* * *

When I was a Padawan, I remember sparing with Cyla so well. She and I could spar for hours with our lightsabers in that old alleyway. As I got older, and even after I was granted the rank of Jedi Knight, we still sparred just for the heck of it. It was almost a game- seeing if I had finally surpassed my Master. Once I got to the age of twenty-something, we'd always have a tie. I remember it so well.

"Oh, the Padawan thinks he can defeat his Master?" Cyla chuckled as we both walked in a circle in that old alleyway- never breaking eye contact. She had such a genuine and nice smile. She was so happy. I was happy.

My eyes were blue and my blade was green.

"Well, I've gotten better, my old Master," I laughed, keeping my green blade at guard. "I know all your moves, lady."

She lunged and I blocked; keeping our blades in the middle of the ground between us. She smiled and turned her blade so it was above mine and kicked me in the shin- not enough to hurt me but enough to get me away.

"Not all of them," she laughed. "You're always so worried about where you have your blade that you never see your opponent."

"Hey," I shrugged with a grin on my face. "I'm getting better."

She swung her blade again at me- this time coming from above my head. Our blades locked above my head as I slightly crouched. I saw that Cyla's entire abdomen was exposed as she held the blade above my head. I took the opportunity and elbowed her in the stomach- again, not hard enough to cause any damage. Just enough for her to be shocked. She backed up and I took the offensive, holding my lightsaber by her neck.

"Winner~" I grinned.

As I saw the cocked eyebrow on Cyla's face and the small smirk on her mouth, I second guessed myself. I looked down to see Cyla's lightsaber a mere centimeter from my stomach.

"Tie," she corrected me.

* * *

Why couldn't I go back to those days? When I was happy; before this personal hell. Man, those were the days. It was darn near perfect. I had this beautiful family by my side- the people I'd live and die for. Maybe I could have just put my red lightsaber down at this very moment- let my family heal me to the point that there was no brown left in my eyes. But, alas, I have no logic. I just have stupidity mixed with bravery; a dangerous combination, really.

My stupid ass didn't calculate the fact that I was so out of practice for battling Cyla's specific fighting tactics that she could have just killed me right then and there. I was accustomed to fighting blaster fire and sparing other Inquisitors. I rarely ran into a Jedi who'd fight back as most were Padawans who had escaped the purge. And, if I did run into a Jedi, they'd be so out of practice that I could strike them down with ease due to the fact they had been in hiding so long, they were out of practice.

Cyla, she must have been keeping in practice down in these lower levels. I'm guessing she practiced with a hologram or maybe just practiced forms in midair. She didn't even seem to put too much trouble into fighting me. Her blocks were near flawless. Her strikes were precise and smooth. She would do effortless flips and never miss a beat.

We locked blades -her green clashing with my red blade- and I could see her saddened eyes look at me as they were under the light of my red blade.

"I am so sorry," her voice almost cracked. I could see tears well up in her eyes as we kept our blades locked. When I saw the first tear roll out of her eye, I finally realized the sincerity that resonated from her.

I noticed how clenched up each and every muscle in my face was as soon as I stopped to think for a moment. Was this really me? Or, was this the monster the Empire made? I unclenched my jaw as well as most of the muscles in my face and could feel that little bit of serenity flow through me. Something I hadn't felt in years.

I stumbled backward, away from the fight, and looked at my former Master.

Words couldn't even make their way out of my mouth as I stood there. Our breaths were labored, but everything else about that alley was silent. I could only give an unsure frown at the crease of my mouth and shake my head as I looked at her.

I looked behind me and leaped onto the roof of the building nearest to me just so I could get away. I continued to get higher in altitude as I used the Force to assist me to the tops of higher and higher buildings. I stopped after a while just to look back. I closed my helmet just so I could look back at Onthant and Cyla who still remained in that alley. My sight in my helmet zoomed in on the two.

Cyla was clenching Onthant in a tight embrace as they both seemed so heartbroken. I had never seen either of them sob that hard. The thought of them crying over me never dawned before- I wondered if they did the same after Order 66…

I couldn't face them...but I was then tasked to face Vader the next rotation.

I informed him that Cyla was much stronger than any other Jedi I had encountered before in my years of the Empire and that I could only get one piece of information from the whole trip: that she was pregnant with another child. He wanted more information out of me- and so he got it. I could feel my mind crumbling as he searched through it. He pulled the next few bits of information out of me as if he were pulling teeth.

He found out about Earth. Not me telling them about it; just Earth. That's all he needed. That's all he wanted.

I knew he wanted to take that child from Cyla as soon as she gave birth. I could feel it. He wanted to take her and make her a little soldier of the Empire. He wanted another one of me.

Little did he know there was already one born with my blood in its veins as well as Suna's.

That was two. Two children to make soldiers out of. Inquisitors.

Add Caleb and that's three.

Three mini me's.

Oh, boy.


	16. Chapter 15- The End

***More swearing again in this chapter***

Crying.

That's all I heard.

A baby's cry.

Red clashed with green with great speed; each blade sliced the air with a hum to follow. I saw a face. A dark one. No…not even a face. A mask. It battled with the green blade that belonged to a woman in a cloak. The same one she wore when I stole her Holocron when I was just a child. She seemed to be protecting something- no- someone.

It was raining. The rain seemed to be making the baby's cry worse as it increased in consistency- or maybe it was the baby who made the rainfall with her tears. I couldn't see her though, the baby, as she cried. But, I knew it must have been Syla. It was about time that she was due to enter the universe at this point. That and Cyla didn't look pregnant.

Cyla locked her blade with the Sith Lord as she held her ground tight. She threw him backward with a push of the Force and sent him a few good meters. He landed on his feet as he bent his knees to absorb the shock and glared at Cyla. His hand reached out and Cyla was soon up in the air as she grasped at her throat, not being able to breathe.

"Where is the child?"

"You'll - you'll never find her," Cyla gagged as her face began to turn blue. "You'll never find Syla."

He struck her down with his red blade and her last breath was released.

She fell on the ground and into the muddy grass as the rain continued to pound on the Earth. The rain seemed to have tripled in intensity as did the child's screams and cries.

Then, I saw a baby all alone on a cement step. It was in a bundle of blankets as it sat in front of the door and under a sign with strange writing on it; almost of another language. I crouched down to see that the baby still had stains of tears on her face; the child now asleep. It was freezing cold out- the baby's lips were turning blue.

Is this what it's like to be a part of this family? No matter how hard you try, everything you love dies? Every child goes on alone? Every child missing a parent? Even my own child at this point would be a toddler who had no father. This one, she had nothing but that bundle of blankets, a cardboard box on a rainy night, and a mother who had just been slain.

I crouched down to the box as I wiped away a raindrop- or maybe a tear- still left on her face. I knew that I was in a vision, but it just felt like the thing to do. I figured my hand would pass through the baby as if I were a spirit; just like how I had in the vision I had of a young Cyla. My hand froze once I could actually feel the presence of the child on a physical level. I wasn't passing through her.

The child's eyes opened. They were green. Just like her mother's. Bright green.

How in the universe could I physically be there? Able to touch and manipulate physical objects? I was in another galaxy! This was Earth! I was in the realm of the Empire!

The child seemed so curious as her wide eyes studied me. She made a few unintelligible noises as she slightly wriggled around in her blanket. She got her arm out from beneath the blanket and reached out to me. Not knowing what the heck was going on, I let her take hold of my finger. She laughed as she looked at me, but it may have been because of the face of horror I had when she was able to grab ahold of my hand.

I could feel such...I don't even know... but whatever it was, I could feel it flow through her very being. But, it didn't feel like the Force. It was altered. And, I knew this was Earth she must have been on. I should not have been able to sense anything, but I sensed everything once she held my hand. It was like that feeling before lighting strikes the ground; that unexplainable energy filled her small body.

The rain stopped falling as if someone turned off the hose of water that fed into the clouds. The rain stopped as if it never started.

"What ARE you?" I asked as if that infant were going to answer me. She didn't, of course.

I could hear someone behind that door that the box sat in front of start to question what that noise was as I said that. I realized that by the time someone cared enough to find the child on this doorstep she'd be dead from the cold. The bundle of blankets filled my arms as I picked up the small infant.I noticed that she was much smaller than Caleb when he was a newborn. The child began to whimper as she still had a grasp on my finger while I held her.

I let a deep sigh out as I took in the moment for a second. The child was so small and helpless. She was so helpless that she had to depend on me at this very moment. Her presence itself was strange. It felt like the moment that fills you when your in the middle of nature- that connection with life and the Force itself. She was teeming with this sensation.

The door made a light pounding sound when my fist came into contact with it. I could hear someone move around inside to meet us at the door. It was a man in a strange uniform and a badge over his heart that stood in front of us.I'm guessing he was some kind of law enforcement.

"Can I help you, sir?"

I was surprised they spoke Basic on Earth.

"I found this kid on this doorstep. I imagine that you'd want to take her inside before she dies from the cold."

I handed the bundle of blankets to the man who looked very confused- probably because of the armor I still wore. The child refused to let go of my finger even after she was handed to the man in the uniform. She began to scream and cry once she left my arms and placed into another's. I think it's because she knew that this life I was about to hand her over to was worse than what I thought of at the moment. She'd be an orphan on Earth- not even knowing her own name.

Once I wrangled my finger from her grasp, everything went dark. It was like that kid was the only thing tying me down to Earth.

My soul came crashing down into my body as I still laid on my bed. My spine jerked like I had been electrocuted as I opened my eyes. My breathing was labored as it felt like I couldn't catch it; it was always just out of reach. Then, it sank in.

Cyla was dead.

Vader killed her.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to scream bloody murder. My hands clamped down on the sheet below me as I still sat on my bed as I felt like I was going to float away; like I'd be back on Earth again and that this sheet was the only thing tying me down.

That's it.

I'm done.

I had it. I'm not doing this anymore. I'm leaving. This isn't the Empire I had once thought so highly of. They killed my Master. They said they wanted to rid the galaxy of chaos and the evil that the Jedi brought upon it. I knew this was a lie now. Cyla wanted to rid the galaxy of evil and she was not one of those Jedi that started the war. And, now that I think of it, how many other Jedi were like Cyla who were killed at the hands of the Empire? The ones who didn't want war but were sucked into it? All those Younglings? What had they done? Why did they have to be murdered?

I had to think of a way out of this Empire. I couldn't just walk out the door, I knew that. I needed a plan. One can't just go up to the Grand Inquisitor or Vader himself and say "I quit". No. I'd die. There was no way I could hide on Earth- the Empire obviously lifted their ban just for Vader. So, I had to go through the lower ranks to get the information through.

Aha! That's it! I thought.

I would inform the lowest officer I could find, they'd report it to their superior, then that superior would report to that above them, and then that one would report the one above them, and it'll take forever for the information to finally the Grand Inquisitor or Vader! All that paperwork those lower officers would have to do would take them rotations! I'd be long gone by then! I could just be a bounty hunter or something and make ends meet. Perfect!

So, I followed as planned. But, what I didn't expect was that I'd be summoned by Vader, along with the rest of the remaining Inquisitorius, to conger at none other than Lord Vader's castle on Mustafar the day after I gave the news. It was huge, dark, and the air felt like soup. I had no idea why he thought that Mustafar, a lava planet, was the best place to build his castle. But, hey, not my business.

At this point, I felt like a scared animal. Cornered. I didn't know if the news had already reached Vader or not at this point. And, I had a feeling the punishment I'd receive from Vader or the Emperor himself would be much worse than death. I wanted to die- not to suffer even more.

When my old green lightsaber was brought out by the Sith Lord, my heart stopped for a good few beats. I hadn't seen it in person since Order 66 and now it was in the hand of Lord Vader.

"Your former Jedi Master wanted you to have this back," he ignited the blade as he held the tip of it on the end of my nose. "The same Jedi you were tasked to kill was your Master and you failed to report directly to me."

I remained silent. I could feel the eyes of the other Inquisitors lock onto me.

"Tell me, Second Brother, how was Dume able to escape you on Coruscant?" his voice boomed in my head.

"She was too strong for me, my Lord," I gulped. "She was a very powerful Jedi."

Shit. I shouldn't have said "was". We weren't told she was dead yet.

"Or were you too weak?"

I silenced myself.

"Do you know where the child is? Syla Dume?" he inquired, still holding the lightsaber to my nose.

"I really have no idea, my Lord," I responded. I wasn't lying. I had no idea where on Earth she was.

Then, I could see him just stare at me. The eyes on the mask were unmoving and refused to yield while I internally crumbled. His heavy mechanic breathing was rhythmic while he still stood there. I could feel the mass amount of power emanating from him. It was similar to the child's power, strength wise, but polar opposite everywhere else. The child felt like she was a part of the Earth around her and one with the life around. The Sith Lord, he was one to dominate it against its will; to control the Force around him for himself. He was one to take the animal by the reins or the animal's neck breaks when trying to resist. The child was one who would be approached by the animal and it would be one with her; a loyal companion.

"Prove to me you are not as pathetic as I think you are," he ordered and took away the green blade from my face. I saw his gaze barely shift to Grand Inquisitor as I stood to my back to the pau'an. Vader thrusted the green blade of Jedi Knight Jalo Hikra into my hand and I could hear the blades activate behind me.

This is it, I thought. My time to die.

Finally.

But, for some reason, maybe pride, I fought off the other Inquisitors well and didn't get a scratch on me. They all came at me at once. It was difficult fending off each one of their dual-bladed lightsabers with just my single blade, but I managed. Grand Inquisitor was the worst to battle as he was much stronger than the others. Rage continued to boil over in him as he realized that I, a lower ranked Inquisitor, could even survive this long against him.

To defeat him, I pushed him away with the Force until he flung into a wall and was knocked unconscious. I didn't kill any of the other Inquisitors; I just knocked them out.

When I was finished, I turned to Vader as I held my green blade in my hands.

"Leave."

I stood there, frozen. What had I done wrong? Was he going to kill me? Did I do good? Did I do bad?

I should have been running out of there. He gave me a chance to leave and I just stood there like an idiot.

"You're not needed here," the Sith Lord spoke. "But, I expect from now on that you will report directly to me concerning any Jedi."

Skip ahead somewhere around ten to eleven years and I was doing just fine. I stopped grieving over my dead Master and missing brother about two years after Syla was born. I had looked into some Imperial records to find that Onthant was on Earth when Cyla was killed but he went missing afterward. I didn't even want to look for Strive. Force only knows how Cyla and Onthant described me after I attacked them. He'd see me as a monster.

Over this period of about ten, maybe eleven years, I worked as a bounty hunter and a damn good one. My conscious was getting slightly clearer with this job as I knew the only people I'd be killing were criminals- not Jedi who escaped the purge. Once and a while, the Empire would even have a bounty job for me.

I never dealt with Vader, thankfully. I still wonder how he reacted to my resignation…

But, why do I keep telling you that it was a ten/ eleven-year gap? What happened ten or eleven years after Cyla died?

Well, remember that little baby that Suna was pregnant with? Your mother?

Well...I found out you were a girl. And, I learned your name.

How?

I don't really recall why I decided to scour through the classified data of the Empire's Inquisitorius and it's newest trainees, but I did. I found out that the Empire had over a hundred young children in training to become Inquisitors on Lola Sayu. Only a handful graduated; the rest were killed. The youngest were five years old while the eldest were nineteen. If they didn't survive their final trails at the age of nineteen, they'd be killed for being too weak. But, you know this already, huh?

Then, I had a feeling. I gut instinct that told me to look at the names. First, I typed in Hikra to see if any of the children had my last name. None of them did. But, as you remember, Suna, your mother, hated my guts and we never got to see each other. She'd give you her last name; Styles.

Rachelle.

Rachelle Styles.

I finally learned your name.

I looked up your profile and you matched the age for how long ago Suna had left. Thirteen years old. You were a little over a year older than Syla. Looking deeper into the profile, I found out that you were ranked in the exact middle of your age group. That wasn't good. You would probably be killed by the time you were nineteen.

And, as luck would have it, at this time I had a bounty job for the Empire and they still owed me the credits. So, I took a risk and made a deal with the Devil. I requested to have an Apprentice in exchange for the bounty.

As I had once been an Inquisitor myself, I was permitted access to the old citadel on Lola Sayu where they trained the children.I was surprised to find out that Seventh Sister and Fifth Brother were the main wardens of the place. The greeting wasn't welcoming as all that was said was "Seventh Sister, Fifth Brother." " Hikra. This way".

Look, I'm sorry. I really am. Please stop crying. I wish I was lying...Rachelle, please… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just out and told you like that. It's really big news- I know. Hey! Don't get mad at me! I told you the woman I got pregnant was named Suna Styles and gave you a description of her a few chapters back! Did you just think it was a coincidence that a woman had your mother's name and exact description?! Ok...ok...I'm sorry. Do you want me to continue the story for Syla? Or do you want it to continue later?

Alright. Let's continue. I'm sure Syla at least want to hear the story. Rachelle, stop crying, please! You're how old?Fifeteen? Sixteen? You're fine.

Ow! Alright...I guess you aren't crying...Fine. I'll shut up.

Well, let's start off when I got out of my ship. Seventh Sister and Fifth Brother led me to the large building that was once a prison for Jedi. The Lola Sayu Citidael. The lava was absolutely ridiculous radiant in heat as it churned in a pool in front of the prison. The two Inquisitors led me to a large room where you and your fellow trainees were. There was well over a hundred of you all there. Each of you wore black armor, brandished a dual-bladed crimson lightsaber, and all of you had dark red, yellow, brown, or pale eyes. Some had scars, most had scowls, and all of you had a broken soul beyond repair.

This was my worst fear for you when I found out you'd be born. That you'd be a killer. A murderer. A monster made by the Empire. That you'd be anything like me.

It'd be suspicious for me to just choose you out of the blue. You weren't the top of your class. You weren't the most obedient. You weren't the strongest. You were just in the middle. And the fact I was partners with your mother and your aunt who shared your last name… It wouldn't look good.

So, I put you all through a trial. I narrowed the class down to just the ones above eleven years old and younger than fifteen. My reasoning to Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister was that the younger ones needed more training. I weeded out the older ones by reasoning that they'd have very little training with me as they'd be on their own soon enough. This narrowed the number down to about fifty kids.

When I did this, I spotted you immediately. You look exactly like your mother. Dark hair, same button nose, and that look on your face like you were ready to fight at all times. But, you took after a couple of my traits. Your mother's genes and my own for skin tone mixed and you got a medium color for skin. Not beige like me nor dark skin like your mother's. Your hair wasn't as curly as your mom's and you got a couple freckles on your nose from me.

You all dueled each other; you did pretty decently. But, you weren't the absolute best of your group. I tried you all at hand-to-hand combat and you had the same results. The same thing happened when I tested you all in defense from blaster bolts. Always in the middle.

I had you all test your Force abilities and you sure did prove to me that you had the combined power of me and your mother. You surpassed everyone else in that category. You could move things with the Force twice as well as any other person there- including myself. I should have figured. If Caleb had received his Force-abilities from his mother, you'd get twice the amount figuring both of your parents were once Jedi.

And, I chose you. You became my Apprentice.

I lost my mother when I was an infant, I lost my biological father, I lost the man who took me in as a dad, I lost my best friend, I lost my brother, I lost my Master, I lost my wife, and I lost myself.

But, I found you. And, I also found you too, Syla- the little orphan Earthling.

I'm trying to find myself again. The road is really rough, but at least I know that I'm not alone. You helped bring me to the Light again. I walk the path of righteousness once again and each of my hands is clasped by my family now. You both know the road I walk now and now each and every turn. It's been a long time since I had someone to help me; decades really. I never did anything to deserve it; for that, I owe you everything.

Thank you.

 **The End.**


End file.
